Harry Potter- The Lost One
by itnava
Summary: Because of all the neglect he suffered from his father and all the other people, Lily, with the help of Severus, sends Harry away for his own safety. She thought her firstborn had left her for good but there is something her friend did not tell her. H/Hr. Non BWL!Harry, Good Potters, Good but manipulative Dumbledore. Multiple siblings. Rating for later.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Universe is owned by J. K. Rowling and her associates.**

**Chapter I- Prologue**

**31****st**** December, 1981**

It had been exactly two months since that night when she had almost lost both of her babies to that monster. And yet here she was, still on the verge of losing one of her sons because of him. Although this time it was not all his fault.

James and Sirius and pretty much everyone had all but forgotten that there was more than just one child in the house. It was as if her other son had been put under some kind of Notice-Me-Not charm that only she, and now Sev, could penetrate. Although she had her suspicion that Dumbledore was also aware of her firstborn, very much.

For two months, James had inquired about anything but Charlus only twice and even that was about what else to get Charlus for Christmas. She had hoped that, at least in the festivities of Christmas, James would pull his head out of his arse and take care or at least inquire about his other son. But it had been in vain. Although she still hoped that James will come around. But she couldn't wait till then. She could already see the wear and tear on his face. His always glittering emerald eyes had lost their shine as he was almost always alone in his crib with his picture book she had given him on his first birthday as she was trapped in that God-forsaken cottage. She was always busy with the constant flow of guests wanting to give their well wishes to _the_ _Boy-Who-Lived _in person, as if he could remember them. But she had to keep up with appearances as she was the Lady Potter and hence can't give as much time as she wanted to her firstborn. And even though James and Sirius, Remus was out of the question as he was still out of the country, had forgiven him, Sev was still not welcome in the Potter household. He would still come anyway to spend some time with the kids but as he was the new Potions Professor at Hogwarts he was more than busy as it was.

So it was because of all of this that she had come to a decision that she knew would haunt and torment her until the day of her death. But she had to do it for the baby who was sleeping in her arms right now. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she sat at Sev's house at Spinner's End. She knew that people will call her horrible names for what she was about to do.

Hell, even James would be angry at her for what she was doing even though it would take as much as a few weeks for him to notice that there was only one child in the house. But she had made up her mind. She would rather never see her baby again than for him to grow up neglected. And that was where the most painful part was. Her baby will never remember her or anything else related to his family. That was why she was there. Sev had brewed a potion that was not dangerous or harmful in any way but he would forget everything about her or James or his brother. Sev was still talking her into not doing this but she wasn't even looking at him. All her attention was on the sleeping angel in her arms who she was never going to see ever again. She wished he was awake right now so she could see his eyes, her eyes. But it was important for him to be asleep for the potion's effect to be full proof. But she still liked to think that if he were not in the potion induced sleep he would have woken up for her.

"Are you sure you could ever let him go, Lily?"

"Never, Sev, never ever," that was all she could say but he got the hint that there was nothing he could say that would change her mind. So he pulled out a small vile of crystal clear potion but she could see a small tint of pink in it but didn't give it much thought and all of sudden she started shaking with sobs so much so that Sev had to put the vial back into his robes and put an arm around her shoulders.

It took almost half an hour for her to stop sobbing but more than an hour to stop crying. Severus then suggested for her to leave him there with Severus as it was clear that she couldn't possibly let go of him in her right mind. Severus knew very well that the boy was Lily's favourite among the twins. He was his favourite as well but he had different reasons which he couldn't let Lily know if he knew what was best for him as he had already told her that he was well over his school time grudge.

That was why even his eyes were a bit misted as he realised that it would be years before he would ever see him again. That was the second secret he was keeping from her. He had created the potion she had asked alright but he had altered the potion for what he knew was best for everyone.

After kissing her baby all she was worth she reluctantly gave him to Sev and walked out of the house without a single glance back and feeling as though she had just tore a part of her heart and left it with Sev which was not far from the truth. But she knew Sev would do everything in his power and some to make sure that her baby will be well taken care of. Now all that was left in her was a big hole in her heart and a hope that somehow she would see her baby again.

After Lily had left, Severus took the vial of potion and fed it to the small boy in the blanket. He then woke him up. He deliberately woke the boy after he had fed him the potion as he knew that no matter how stupid Lily was acting this is what she really wanted.

He looked into those eyes and spoke clearly because he knew these words will be etched into the boy's memory for a long time.

"Always remember that your mother loves you more than her own life. Always"

He then willed the person he had chosen for this deed to come in the living room. When that person was standing in front of him he started talking.

"You will take this boy to the place I had shown you last night safely, do you understand?"

A glassy eyed Mundugus Flether answered him with a positive nod. That was enough for Severus as he knew Flether will protect the boy more than his own life and deliver him where Severus knew he would be safe, well taken care of and will be educated properly. So he handed Dung the boy with instructions to come back there after he had done the job so that he could be obliviated.

After a final glance in those eyes, Snape willed Dung to leave the house and to lock the door behind him which he did.

After a couple of moments, a watery eyed Severus Snape said with some emotion in his voice.

"Goodbye, Harry James Potter. We shall meet again. Soon"


	2. What Happened After

** Chapter II- What Happened After**

Lily was standing on the doorstep of the Potter Mansion still crying as if the whole world was on the verge of destruction. With none too small an effort, she entered the house and made a beeline to the master bedroom. When she passed the door to the dining room, she heard familiar voices from inside but was in no condition to enter and entertain any guests. So she continued on her way but someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.

Remus Lupin was trying to take in everything his best friends were trying to tell him about what had happened that Halloween night and how it was because of his other best friend, now former, that it had all happened. He was working under cover for the Order in a werewolf pack in France and could not leave all of a sudden as that would have looked suspicious and that was why he was here right now listening to all that had happened in two months since that night.

He was still a bit shaken by listening to how it had all come so close from going to hell. It was a Godsend that Lily did not believe that the Fidilius was not enough and had taken steps for more protections before that cottage in Gordic's Hollow went under the charm. He knew that because he was the only other person, other than Lily, who knew more than enough about Ancient Runes to use them in practical Defence. Although he had never thought that that would be of any use to them, as he was 100% sure that Voldemort would be more than capable of negating the effects of the Runes. But it seemed that against all odds everything had worked out for the best.

He was a bit annoyed at the time though; because all James and Sirius were talking about were Charlus and all the balls held in the mansion in his honour. He was getting a bad feeling out of this but didn't pay it heed at the moment because he was more than enough aware that both Prongs and Padfoot, no matter how old they got, would always have that immature side of the Marauders in their heart. So he thought it was natural for them to get a little carried away by all the fame of _The Boy-Who-Lived_; but he knew it was nothing to be worried about. Even if it went far from it was supposed to there was always Lily who would make them come down to Earth so he didn't say anything on the matter.

Just then he heard footsteps from outside the door of the dining room and he knew who that might be so he excused himself, handed Charlus to an eager Sirius and made his way to greet the woman he had started to consider a sister and his other honorary nephew. By the time he got out of the door, Lily was almost to the stairs so he ran after her and grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.

Lily was so devastated that, for a couple of seconds, her mind could not formulate any reaction for the predicament she was in at the moment. But then the person who was holding her in their arms pulled her back and she was able to see the face of the stranger, though she was certain that whoever it was it was not a stranger as the wards were up and only those whom they had keyed into the wards could get into the house. Her assessment was correct. It was Remus. His expression, at first, was of relief but then it turned into one of confusion as he no doubt would be surprised by the condition she was in.

"Lily, what is the matter? Is everything okay? Why are you crying? And where is Harry? James told me…."

It was all he could manage as at the sound of Harry's name she started sobbing hysterically and nothing he said or asked comforted her as she wanted nothing more than hold Harry in her arms again. But it was never going to happen. She had made sure of that. So it was in this state that James and Sirius, Charlus in his arms, found them. Then their armada of questions about, first her well-being and then, after taking a look at her empty arms, Harry, started. But she did nothing more than continuing to cry. So Remus suggested taking her into the living room so that she could sit and calm down enough to tell them what had happened.

When Lily was finished explaining everything that had happened and her reasons for why she had done what she had done there were only two things Sirius wanted to do. One he wanted to take Lily to a mind healer and two he wanted to kill old Snivvy for taking his Godson away from him. It was true that he was not paying much attention to Harry but that was just temporary. It would have all toned down after a while; she didn't have to go to the extreme in such a way! He was just going to say something when James started shouting at Lily for all he was worth. That was when Remus silenced James and warned Sirius not to say anything. He normally would not have heeded Moony but the look Remus was giving him made it clear to Sirius that this was not his best friend requesting, this was Remus's wolf demanding for him to stay calm.

"Lily, was this really necessary for you to give up Harry like that? I mean I trust your judgement but was it really that much of importance for you to give away your own son in that manner? And even if what you are saying is true it would not have been like Harry would have been completely neglected. You were still aware of him, so was I and by the reaction James had just shown to your actions it seems that he also cares for him, then why did you take matters in your hands and that too after just two months of observing things? And who is to say that wherever you have sent Harry, he will be well taken care of? You should have at least waited for a couple more months Lily. And can you really trust Severus with your son's life? I mean I'm not saying anything against him or your friendship with him but still he had the Mark. You've heard what it takes to _earn _that filth which they call the _greatest honour _and yet you handed your son over to him just like that! What if this is a mistake Lily? What if something happens to Harry in all this….all this SHIT?"

Remus literally shouted the last few sentences/questions at Lily. But she did nothing but stare lifelessly at the wall in front of her which was infuriating not only Remus but all the other recipients of the room. Sirius had had enough and was going to say something when she spoke. Her voice was full of sadness but still very much determined.

"I have lived through this before, Remus. But in my case, I was in Charley's place whereas my sister was in Harry's", this statement alone was enough to force everybody, even Sirius, to think about this whole situation with a new point of view.

"I agree that in time everybody would have come out of their shell and would have started to notice Harry again. But in time it would have gotten worse. People would have constantly compared Harry to _the Boy-Who-Lived_; he would have been forced to live with that need to prove himself. He would have grown up resenting his twin for being the centre of attention wherever he went. It had been the same with me and Tuni. At first my magic made my parents love and cherish me more because they thought I was special. Then when we grew up, boys would pay more attention to me as I was prettier than her. After my parents' death, it was as though I was just someone she had to tolerate receiving letters from. But I thought it was only because she was getting settled in her new life with her husband. It was the night that I went to invite her to my wedding that she truly severed all ties with me. She didn't even invite me in her house saying that there was no Petunia Evans there, only a Mrs Dursley who did not know me or _my_ parents!"

By this time Lily started crying again and there was nothing said by anyone. Charlus by now was peacefully sleeping, lulled by his mother's soft but sorrowful voice. After drinking some water offered by Remus, Lily started talking again.

"I could take this pain of being away from my baby but I would prefer death before listening to my own son not acknowledging me as his mother. I know I am being selfish and doing this so that I could avoid the pain that would have entered my life sooner rather than later. But I couldn't do that to Harry what had happened to Tuni. I couldn't take his right to have a happy and normal life, and if it had to be achieved from keeping him away from us then so be it."

Then she looked at James with those same dead eyes and said, very quietly, "I am sorry, James. I really am."

James, still silenced by Remus, went and sat beside his wife and held her in his arms while she cried some more and finally fell asleep right there on the couch, being held in her husband's warm arms. James would not admit it yet but could see that whatever Lily had pictured as Harry's life with them was a very close possibility. He was silently crying for his, now lost, son and made a promise to himself that if, not when, if Lily ever wanted another child, he would do everything in his power to make sure that he or she will always feel loved by their parents. He just wished he could see Harry one last time. He now knew that whatever they say about not appreciating something until that something is lost was not far from the truth.

Sirius was ashamed of himself. For the first time in his life, he was feeling regret. He couldn't believe that he had so blatantly ignored his duties as a Godfather and preferred his one Godson over the other just because he _thought_ Charlus was better than Harry. He knew, from now on, he would never blame his mother for what she had done to him, only because he was sorted into some other school house than she had wanted him to, because he had just done the same thing to a barely two-year-old innocent; even worse than what his mother had done to him. That didn't mean that he was going to go running to 12, Grimauld Place to apologize to his mother. No, he was going to go to Snape and make sure that his Godson will be well taken care of; something he should have done a long time ago. He was just about to exit the front door when someone grabbed his hand and turned him around.

"James and Lily need you here, Padfoot. I'll go and talk to Severus."

Sirius was about to argue when he remembered how James looked just now before he left the living room leaving James comforting a wounded mother and caring for his seventeen months old son. So he decided to listen to Moony the second time in a day, a record in itself. If he was not this devastated, Sirius would have cracked a joke about it. Though before Remus left, Sirius said, "Please, make sure he'll be safe and sound, Moony."

"I intend to Sirius, I very much do."

With that Remus went out the open front door and into the chilly December evening, walking out of the wards so he could apparate to Spiner's End.


	3. The Prince

**Chapter III- The Prince**

Remus was standing outside the door waiting for the door to open. Another five minutes of waiting later, Severus opened the door but instead of inviting Remus in he stood there staring down at Remus as if he was a petulant child who had destroyed a cauldron in his dungeons. But instead of feeling insulted, Remus stood there in patience. It was one of the reasons he had volunteered to come here instead of Padfoot who would have had blown up by now, literally.

"Can I help you with something, Lupin?" Snape drawled with his usual sneer.

"Can I come in please, Severus? The discussion that I have in mind is quite lengthy and it is a tad bit chilly out here as well", Remus replied with a little sarcasm. No matter what Lily or Dumbledore said about him, Remus could not shake off that feeling of unease whenever Snape was concerned.

Snape was looking as though he was actually contemplating whether to let Remus in or not. After two more minutes, Remus was sitting on the couch in the living room with Snape sitting right in front of him in an armchair. Neither man spoke for a couple of minutes while they stared at each other, sizing each other up. Then Severus asked a question which made Remus's eyes widen in shock and then, after making sure that it was indeed Severus "Master Occlumens" Snape who has asked that question, to Remus rethinking his views of Severus.

"How is she holding up?"

It was not actually the question per se but the emotions in his voice, which was saying something as Snape being a master Occlumens he was always in control of himself.

"She will at least sleep peacefully if you'll tell me where Harry is, and", seeing Severus was going to interrupt, Remus thought of a different strategy, "if not that then at least convince me that he will always be happy wherever he is so that I could make James and Sirius understand that Harry is safe and that will always remain the same no matter how many years pass."

If Remus thought that whatever he said would make Snape want to tell him about Harry's current whereabouts then he was in for a rude awakening. Snape reared on Remus like a cobra would.

"Oh! So now are they worried about the other son eh?" Snape hissed/sneered at Remus with none too controlled contempt.

Remus lowered his head in shame for the actions of his two best friends. He had expected more to come from Severus but the silence after this, sarcastic, question stretched on for a few minutes. After a long while, for Remus anyway, Snape spoke, "I want an Unbreakable Vow."

Remus, startled, only stared at Snape for some moments, trying to figure out whether he imagined the words or did Snape just demanded something from Remus that would probably result in his, Remus's, death. After regaining his composure from the latest, of many to come, shock of the day, Remus cleared his throat and asked, "Is that really necessary, Severus?"

"Very", this was the only answer he got from Snape.

"Why, if I may ask, Severus" Remus asked.

Remus didn't know why, but he thought whatever reason Snape had for asking him to take the vow was for the best for everyone, especially Harry, which was all Remus wanted.

"It's Lily's wish that Harry's whereabouts remain hidden from everyone, including and especially her. But I don't want this information to get lost if something happens to me. But I also want to make sure that whoever I pass on the information to has Harry's best interests at heart, and I don't count Potter and Black among those people, at the moment. Plus, if you know exactly what I have arranged for Harry for the years to come, you would be able to convince Potter and Black to back off from searching for Harry, which, if what you say about them being _concerned_ about Harry's safety is true , they would do. And that would attract….._unwanted attention_."

After contemplating some more about this, and ignoring that cryptic comment about _unwanted attention_, Remus said, "I will take the oath,_ if_ you tell me everything."

Snape only nodded in return.

Half an hour later, both men sat where they were sitting previously clutching their right forearms, which now had the unmistakable markings of the Unbreakable Vow. Mundungus, who, Remus found out, was actually the reason why Severus had made him wait outside the front door, had already apparated back to wherever he was before Snape had _picked _him up, obliviated and freed from the Imperius. It was Dung who had acted as the Castor for the Vow. It would have taken far less a time to complete the ritual if it hadn't been for Remus, who threw a fit of fright, anger and shock all at the same time when he found out in what condition Dung was in.

Now, though, it was Snape's turn of fulfilling the promise he made to Remus and satisfying the Vow. So after handing Remus a glass of mead, he advised him not to interrupt once he started. After Remus nodded in positive, Snape started telling Remus what he would never tell Lily; for a few years, at the very least.

"I will start with my family history, which is very important to understand where and why Harry is where he is at the moment." After taking a huge breath Snape started again, "My mother's name was Eileen Snape nee Prince. Prince is a very old pureblood family. You must ask why I'm living here if I am the heir of such a family. The answer is simple. My mother was disowned by my grandfather because she married a muggle; an irresponsible one at that, I might add. They judged her for this reason alone and threw her away as if she never belonged to them. But they never stopped to think why she married such a filth, why she accepted the disownment as if they were giving her a boon."

Snape continued again after he composed his emotions, which had flared during his last few sentences, "It was the same as it was with Lily and her sister. It was the same as it would have been if Lily had kept Harry. She had an older sister, a very powerful and talented older sister; Evelyn Prince."

Remus had expected Snape to spit his aunt's name like it was some kind of filth. But after hearing him speak her name so calmly, Remus was confused. Snape, not noticing this, continued, "She was a prodigy in magic and my grandparents knew it from the moment she turned seven, my mother was two at the time. It started just like it had with Charlus and Harry, just like it had with Lily and Petunia when Lily got her Hogwarts letter. But it all changed when they sent my mother to Hogwarts while they had sent her sister to that French magical school, Baubatons, I think was the name she had given me.

"From then on, any hope my mother had of her parents ever treating her fairly were thrown out of the window. She grew bitter of them, naturally, and became distant to her sister each passing year. Then there was her low magical prowess which made her the victim of bullying in her own house and the target of others, mainly _Gryffindor_, for her being an easy target and a Slytherin.

"It was enough to make anyone wish to have nothing whatsoever with the world they are currently living in. So in an attempt to cut all ties with the magical world, she married a muggle and hoped that none of her children would bear the curse she was born with."

Remus was mesmerized by everything Severus was telling him and was further ashamed when he realised that he had taken part, not directly but still, in making Severus's life at Hogwarts just like his mother's. Severus continued after taking a drink from his glass, "It was the reason why Lily had forgiven me for everything that I had done after I left Hogwarts; the same reason why she understood my reasons for taking a liking to Harry; and the same reason why she sent Harry away. Though of course the other reason was what had happened to her own sister, something I'll admit even I have a hand in."

Remus wanted to ask what Dumbledore's reasons for trusting him were but knew better than to interrupt. Severus again, not having any idea about what was going on in the head of his companion, continued with his monologue, "Everything that I have just told you was not something my mother told me about. She didn't even tell me that she was disowned, she just told me that her family was not filthy rich and she was the only living descendent, aside from me, of the family."

Now Remus was beyond confused. 'What the hell? If she didn't then who', he thought. But again didn't say anything; except, unlike last two times, Snape noticed, and, for the first time since this whole ordeal had started, smirked.

"It was the same person because of whom my mother had went through the things she did."

Remus's jaw dropped, not in realization but in confusion. He could not figure out who exactly would be this person. Mainly there were three persons who had made Snape's mother to live a life full of torment. Two of them had to be dead and the third seemed totally unlikely. Then who?

Severus, again, noticing Remus's confusion answered his own askance statement, "It was Evelyn Prince."

Now Remus's jaw was literally touching the ground! 'Really, _that woman?'_ this was making as much sense to Remus as would the day when he would see either James or Sirius teaching at Hogwarts. Severus, seeing that Remus was clearly flabbergasted, tried to make sense of the situation for his sake.

"When I returned from Hogwarts after fourth year, mother was grievously injured. We never shared any letters as she didn't want anything to do with magic, so I didn't anything about it. My _father_ had left us when I was in my third year at Hogwarts so my mother was the one earning for the family. But it was taking a toll on her life…..She was dying.

"Lily was there but not in the manner I wanted her; although I am over that crush of mine now. I now know that I don't deserve her the way James does; that doesn't mean I think he is less of an arrogant git than he was in school. Now I only think of her as an honorary sister whom I owe more than just my life…..and I will do anything to redeem myself"

The last sentence was not meant for Remus, but he still heard it. Remus added that to his mental list he had dubbed _Snape's Mysteries_, which was growing fast. But this was not the time for that. So Remus cleared his throat to get Snape's attention, looked like he was visiting memory lane. That did it; Snape looked at Remus and shook his head and then continued.

"As I was saying, my mother was dying. In her last moments, she told me to owl an Evelyn Prince to inform her of my condition. I knew about our family and the fact, which turned out to be a lie, that we were the only remaining members of the Prince family. So I was confused but did what she asked of me."

At this moment, Snape looked out the window and Remus, entranced in Snape's monologue, followed his example. It was dark outside. Both men looked surprised. 'Surely it hadn't been that long!' This was thought on both of their minds. Then both looked at each other and shrugged at the same time. Seeing the irony of the scene, both of them smiled, well in Severus's case, smirked; though that smirk was completely wiped from his face when he started his story, because it was still a story.

"She came as my mother had told me to ask her…..on her funeral; although she did not reveal herself until everyone was gone, not that a lot of people were present to start with." He chuckled bitterly at this and then after a few moments, said, "She introduced herself and then took me home and told me everything.

"At first, I didn't want to do anything but throw her out of the house. But she convinced me to at least accept gold from her so that I could continue my education. Then she told me to accept her as my guardian so that I could continue living here. But that didn't mean I wasn't angry at her for what had happened to my mother."

Remus could understand the anger. Then he realized something. 'So that's why he was so brutal in fifth year!'

Snape read Remus correctly but only nodded in answer. For a couple of moments neither man spoke anything. Then Remus nodded in a manner that indicated Snape to continue, so he did.

"She would visit me every summer once and try to convince me to forgive her and to accept the headship of the family, as the Prince family is patriarchal and she hadn't married nor would she as she could not produce a child; I never did forgive her because I had gone too deep in the darkness already to understand anything like grief, forgiveness, mercy,…..shame."

Again, the last thing wasn't meant for Remus, but the Marauder heard it alright and added it to that list of his as well.

"It was last November that I owled her and asked her to visit me. She came and I told her everything that I had done while I was in _his _service. In the end, it was me who was begging for forgiveness. At the time of this meeting, Lily was contemplating whether to do what she did today, but I wanted to make sure every option open was open for her. So I told Eve about Harry's situation. For a few moments, she didn't say anything, but then she said something which made me sure that if Lily ever sent Harry away, he would be happy and safe with only Eve."

Remus could not for the life of him figure out what that woman could have said that cemented the possibility of Harry being most well taken care of only with her. Snape did not keep him waiting long.

"She said that she would not take away Harry's family away from him like she did, unintentionally, with my mother but she would only be a mentor and guardian to him."

For someone else, it wouldn't have made sense; but Remus got the meaning and he was rejoiced when he interpreted the hidden message from that statement. 'Harry will be back.' But then another thought crossed his mind. 'Why didn't Lily tell them this bit of information?' Remus was unaware of Severus watching him closely; that is why he was startled by Snape's next statement.

"She doesn't know where he is or with whom or the fact that he will be returned to her when the time is right", he said.

After a moment's pause, in which Remus seriously debated internally whether Snape was applying passive Legilimensy on him, but dismissed that thought and decided, for the second time that evening, that he could trust Snape, he regained his composure and asked, "Why?"

Snape sighed and looked at Remus with disbelieving eyes. Then he said, very quietly, "This comes under the Vow, Lupin. You are not allowed to tell anyone about _any_ of this….." Remus was going to interrupt but Snape beat him, "I want them to suffer a bit for what they did to Harry. When I am convinced that they had had enough, I will tell them personally; not Lily though."

Remus could understand that that was fair, though he felt a bit bad for his fellow Marauders. But he couldn't understand why Snape wasn't telling Lily about this. When Remus asked Severus this, he merely shook his head and said, "She thinks that Harry will always be neglected no matter what. But I know that will not be the case. And that is how I am going to judge Potter and Black; how they treat Lily's other children, who I am sure will come. Because I know Lily and only another child will fill the hole Harry's departure from her life has created in her heart. And I am sure James would have figured this out by now, as well."

After hearing this, Remus was completely sure that Severus knew what he was doing and whatever it was, it was best for not only Harry but all his friends. The only thing that was unclear to Remus was why did Snape told him all this? And he decided to ask him this.

"Severus…..why did you tell me all this? I mean I appreciate it but why?"

Snape stared at Remus for a few quiet moments and then he stood up and turned with his back on Remus. Remus thought he was not going to get an answer so he too stood up to leave. He was just going to turn to leave when Severus spoke.

"Because you were ashamed"

With that, he left the living room. But before he left, he turned and spoke over his shoulder, "Lock the door on your way back."

Remus left the house and made it to a secluded place in a daze. Even then he concentrated only enough to apparate back to the Potter mansion to tell his friends that Harry will be safe. But that was all he could tell them, if he wanted to live some more years. Severus was indeed a Slytherin to plan all this right under Lily's nose without letting her know of this, which was a feat in itself. Plus, he will exact a semblance of revenge on the Marauders as well.

He just hoped whatever he could tell them was enough for both of them, especially Sirius 'I have the emotional capacity of a Troll' Black.


	4. Mother-Son

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and Universe is owned by J. K. Rowling and her associates.**

**A. N.: Sorry if the Chapter is a wee bit longer. Couldn't help it as I wanted to give you an idea of what our protogonist has been upto and his relationship with his mentor.**

**Chapter IV- Mother-Son**

**31****st**** July, 1997**

In an unplottable, beautiful and old chateau in France, an attractive young man no more than seventeen was twisting and turning in his bed; while this was happening, his chin-length hair were changing colours rapidly, from vivid red to a forget-me-not blue to emerald green, so on and so forth. This went on for a few more minutes until an elderly woman, who looked to be in her late forties although in realty she would be celebrating her seventieth birthday next May, entered the room.

She was dressed in a weird looking robe of periwinkle blue, the likes of which people wear on Halloween to scare each other, though of slightly different and gothic shades. Her hair were slightly greying on the sides and she had wrinkles on her forehead and the area around her eyes, which were icy blue; though at the moment they were looking tired and, after taking a look at the boy, became worried. She hurried to his bedside, although, even in her haste, she did it with a certain grace that seemed to be surrounding her.

She just stood there for a couple of minutes, doing nothing but looking at the beautiful face of the restless boy. It would have looked bizarre to someone else, looking at a boy tossing and turning in his bed with his hair changing colours every second. But she was used to it by now as she had practically raised the boy from infancy to adulthood, which he had reached just seven hours ago. No, she was not looking at his face because of his colour-changing hair. She was just trying to imagine how she could live her life without him being in it. She knew she had promised to be only a guardian or, at the very least, a mentor figure to him but she, and whoever it was she had made the promise to, had underestimated Dave, short for David- a name they had decided for him to adopt.

He was such a darling that once he figured out that she was in no way related to him, but had a mother somewhere who loved him, he only approached her and told her what he had found out; scared the shit out of her in the process, because when she had visualized the scene of telling him this, Dave was of the age he was now. But instead she had to explain an eight-year-old Dave why he was hearing voices in his head, telling him how_ 'your mother loves you more than her own life'_; she so wanted to kill her nephew for not warning her beforehand of this development.

But when she was finished telling him that his mother had parted with him for his own safety and he would one day meet her and will afterward live with her without any fear in the world, she had expected him to throw a tantrum and curse his mother, whom she had never met but respected for what she had done, and still doing, for Dave.

But instead she found her arms full of Dave, who was thanking her for being so kind to him without any reason. From that day onwards, she had come as close to Dave as if he was her own child. Incidentally, that was the same day as today; incidentally, not coincidentally. Because she knew her nephew was too good for coincidences.

But she knew Dave was not hers to keep; and she made sure that Dave knew about this too. But Dave would just wave off her attempts at it with some smart-ass comments about how 'you are getting on in your years' or something along the lines.

'_Cheeky bugger', _she thought affectionately, with a small soft smile on her face. With those thoughts on her mind, she started shaking his shoulders so he could wake up from his restless sleep, which he did. He opened his emerald green eyes, startled, looked right in her eyes with no small amount of surprise on his face. After a couple of moments, she knew why he was surprised, or _shocked_ would be a better term. 'He did write that this would happen tonight'.

Sometimes, she wondered whether he was lying when he had told her that the potion was completely harmless and that he had designed it in such a way that the only side effect would be _this_.

After a couple of more silent moments, Dave shook his head as if to clear his head and after blinking a couple of times he sat up in his bed while she sat on the edge of his bed. She smiled knowingly and comfortingly at him so he would relax a bit. That seemed to work as his sweaty face relaxed enough that his lips twitched upwards in a small smile in return. He lifted his hands to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead and swipe back the stray strands of hair so that his face was now looking close to normal.

"The same nightmare again?" she asked.

"Technically, it's not a nightmare", he said as cheekily as he could.

"Oh! I didn't know you liked that _dream_ of yours so much. Do you want me to put you in magic induced sleep so you could see that _beloved_ dream of yours again?" she asked in a falsely sweet tone, though she sounded a little angry and he knew why.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I would try harder next time. But I think it's fruitless. That dream blows through my shields like hot knife through butter", he said in an exasperated tone as he got out from under the covers.

She knew very well that it was fruitless to try, but that didn't mean she couldn't use that opportunity to motivate him to improve his shields, which had become quite effective against her mind attacks so much so that he could thwart her out almost every time; although she suspected that the few times she had successfully entered his mind was because he wanted her to, so that she could hear the voices, or voice, from this _dream_ of his. And hence, she deduced that the next time she would attempt to enter his mind, she would see a familiar pair of black eyes accompanying an as much familiar voice.

Then she remembered the reason she had come there in the first place, although she hadn't completely disregarded the possibility of finding Dave in the condition that she did. She was going to tell him something she had dreaded to for almost eight years now.

"Dave?" she asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

Hearing her voice lowering a couple of octaves, Dave wheeled around to look at her, as he was on his way to the bathroom. He looked suspiciously at her for a few moments then, after realizing that something was really troubling his mentor and it was not one of her practical jokes she keeps pulling at him, to his slight annoyance and amusement, he crossed the room and hugged her gently, hoping to comfort her, not realizing that he was giving her something she would never have…..the warmth that every mother feels when her baby is near her, the warmth that a mother feels when she is holding her child in her arms. It really did calm her nerves and so she reluctantly let go of him and held him at shoulder's length, looking at him with an affectionate smile which he returned with just as much emotion. That was the other thing that touched her heart. The fact that he showed his true face only her. For others, he had his cool _spoiled prince_ mask to impress them with. But _this_ was only for her. She asked him multiple times why she was the only one he showed his true face to, to which he would answer that the other person would be his mother whenever she would be ready to take him in again, a statement which was not far from the truth, as the potion's magic will release Dave's suppressed memories only when one of his family members acknowledge him as theirs.

That brought her back to the present. So she started debating on how to approach Dave with the purpose she had in mind. Dave, being himself, understood her dilemma and calmed her nerves some more by saying, "If this is one of your 'I am not trying to be your mother, I am your mentor' rants, save it. You'll always have a place in my heart no matter what happens. Just accept the fact that if mothers can have more than one child and love them all the same then the same thing can happen the other way around. Is it that much difficult to get in that old and wise head of yours?"

She smiled at him again and contemplated on how well a young man Dave had grown into. So she decided to lighten the mood further. And therefore, while looking into his beautiful eyes, she said, lovingly, "First of all, happy birthday", and kissed him on both cheeks.

It never stopped to amaze her that no matter how many girls he dated, and snogged, he always got rosy-cheeked whenever she kissed him. She would have, obviously, taken the mickey out of him on this occasion, if it hadn't been for the fact that she was nervous about what will be happening next. So she just got onto business.

"Technically, it's _me _who's supposed to give you a _gift….._"

"You know you don't have to, Eve", he interrupted me.

"I do have to, Dave, as I am your guardian, and I love to see you happy. And normally, gifts make _normal _people happy, you know", she said playfully.

"Ha ha"

She smirked at him and continued, "So as I was saying, before _someone_ rudely interrupted me", at this, he gave me a winning smirk. Apparently, the _spoiled prince_ didn't like being all goody-goody. It was his ideology that as long as you put a _decent guy_ mask on your face, people will put an equally fake one on theirs. But if you will be blunt and arrogant, even the wisest and more skilful deceivers will give themselves away in their own arrogance and pseudo-pride.

A deduction not far from the truth and the very same which had helped Dave make good and loyal friends even though he had been practically isolated from the whole wide world, magical and non-magical alike, all his life before he went to attend school at Salem when he turned eleven.

Salem was the only premier level institution of magic which Dave was willing to go to, as he didn't want to go to Beauxbatons, he knew everything about her, except for her nephew's involvement in his life. Durmstrang was obviously out for two reasons- one, their abysmal teaching staff, most of them consisted of known dark wizards; one of them an alleged Death-Eater, who, she recently heard, had become the Headmaster when their previous one mysteriously died in his sleep. Although that was not the main reason for the rejection, as Dave never disregarded anything based on prejudice. No, the main reason was that Dave was not interested in learning the Dark Arts. He had read about them, but thought they were too _static,_ his own words, for his taste, as he always loved variety. That is how Salem came in the picture; as they always invented new ways of using magic in practical life, just like their non-magical counter-part, and thus providing the little devil his _variety_.

Ever since starting school, Dave had become obsessed with finding new methods he could use magic with. His letters were always filled with new ideas that he had come up with and new spells he and his friends had created as projects.

Dave had always been exceptional but Salem helped him in reaching his full potential by forcing him to go to his limits and introducing him to new prospects and branches of magic that the prejudiced and incapable European schools couldn't even comprehend to understand, let alone teach.

It was probably why they had asked ICW to arrange what the Confederation had this year; and it was that reason that Eve was feeling so edgy this morning around Dave. It was then she noticed that Dave was actually waving both his hands in front of her face to get her attention. She blinked a couple of times, while in her head she was berating herself for choosing this morning of all to visit the memory lane every few minutes.

"Eve, are you alright?" Dave asked her in a voice filled with concern and worry.

So she berated herself further for making him worry on his seventeenth birthday and then composed herself to her normal calm demeanour.

"I am perfectly fine, Dave. It's just…. There is something I want from you." She cursed whichever deity that was doing this with her, 'Why am I so nervous? It's not like he would storm through the chateau in rage after hearing her request.'

"What is it?" he asked, while unconsciously shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he did it whenever he was nervous.

'_Of course, he would be nervous; the last time you asked something from him, he chucked his Hogwarts letter in the bin, without even reading who the letter was addressed to!' _her mind jibed at her.

"Dave, relax. It's nothing you _have_ to do; it is just something I wanted to do for my parents. It was the only thing they asked from me", I said in the hope of calming his nerves; but unexpectedly his nervous and wary eyes became hard and angry. For a second she thought the anger was directed at her; but then she remembered what she had just said and so she tried to quench his anger.

"Dave, no matter what they had done to her, they were still my parents, weren't they? And just as you would to anything for me, _hopefully_", she added playfully, "I would do anything for them even if they are gone now!"

Dave looked at her for a moment, looking pensive, but then shrugged and nodded in assent. Then he said something that gave her confidence that he would say yes to whatever she wanted him to do, willingly as it was important for him to take it seriously and not agree to do it just so she told him to.

"There was absolutely no need to put so much _emphasis_ on _hopefully_. You know, and if you don't then put this _fact _through that thick skull of yours, that I _will _do anything to make you happy."

As blunt as ever, he made her feel overwhelmed so this time it was her who initiated the hug and held onto him for a few minutes. After regaining her demeanour, she, again, held him by his shoulders and looked at him in the eye to make sure that he was being honest with her while he was giving her his answer. After taking a few deep breaths, she asked him what she wanted from him.

"Dave, you know about my family, right?" After his nod, although it was clear that he was confused as to where she was getting with that, she continued, "It is just that there are some things I didn't tell you before", he still looked confused although he had a hint of accusation in his eyes. Dave never liked secrets; he had told her that _'secrets decrease the understanding two people have with each other as one is trying to hide something from the other, while the other, not knowing that certain something, might read that reluctance for mistrust'._ On some level, the statement was true; but even Dave understood that sometimes secrets were necessary to keep that same understanding in check.

Eve suspected that apparently, it was that same understanding that prompted Dave to keep quiet for the moment. So she continued again, although this time she chose her words more carefully, "It is not something I thought you would understand at the time, but now that you are an adult and are emancipated I thought you would consider it more seriously."

She stopped here, non-verbally asking him if he wanted her to continue, to which he nodded in positive. So she decided to tell him what she wanted, "Dave, the Prince family, as you know, is patriarchal. What you don't know is that I lied to you when I said that my nephew had accepted my offer of heading the family."

Here she again stopped, but this time she did it so that Dave could make sense of this new development completely before her dropping the bombshell on him. He took half a minute to understand the implications of the situation completely; in this half a minute his expression kept changing like his hair were changing colour half and a quarter hour ago, but the main emotions were that of anger and disbelief.

Anger was directed at her of course, as she had broken the only ground rule they had, and disbelief because she had told him that her nephew, as the head of the family, was providing gold to her. But now that he knew the truth, his head would be filled with questions about how she must have gotten the gold if not from the family head. After all, he knew, of course, that she didn't have a job.

Finally, he closed his mouth, which had opened in disbelief after this revelation, and asked, "Then how have you been managing, you know…. financially? And how are we able to live in this place if it is not given to you by your family? And why didn't you tell me this sooner, I would have understood the situation and minimized my spending, I mean all the gold I had wasted on….."

He would have gone on with this rant of his, as he had clearly misinterpreted her statement, and thought that she was trying to tell him to tone down his spending. But she interrupted him.

"Dave, calm down", she made him sit on his bed and sat next to him and when she was sure he was calm enough to listen, she continued, "You misunderstood me. That is not what I am asking from you. Seriously, do you really think that I was lazing around and doing nothing before you came into my life? Or that I would let that brilliant mind of mine go rusting and wouldn't do anything with it? Although, you are right about the chateau…."

"Then how…..?" He tried to ask; but I again interrupted him.

"Because it is mine, not my family's. Simple", she said with a shrug.

After that, he contemplated for some minutes about what she told him and finally nodded, indicating that he understood the situation.

"And Dave, do you really think my parents wouldn't give me anything only because I am a woman?" she asked him in a somewhat stern voice, "No matter the mistakes they had made regarding my sister, they were still my parents and loved me for who I was. I've told you this before, and you had agreed with me then, that we should take the good from everything no matter their origin or their millions of faults. Do you want to disagree with me on that sentiment, now, David?"

He lowered his head in shame and shook his head silently. She hated to do this to him but she was very strict with her teachings and he knew it. After some silent moments, Eve gently took hold of Dave's face in both of her hands and lifted it so that they were on eye level, or as close as they could come to that as he was taller than six feet while she was five feet eight. _'And, we are sitting!'_

She, again, reflected on how well Dave had grown. He had the lean figure of an athlete, with the exercise regime he followed religiously with some of his male friends- it was no surprise. Dave was never a sports-enthusiast, something she thanks the Creator for, to this day. Merlin knew what Dave would have done if someone had introduced him to brooms when he was a kid. Even then Dave was as compassionate about things he liked as he was now; the unconditional love he had for his unknown mother was a proof of that. Add that with his innovative mind and she wouldn't even have been surprised if he had somehow gotten himself into professional _Quidditch_by the age of fourteen, a game she hated with all her heart.

Dave, again, had to wave his hand in front of her face to make her come back to Earth. After blinking herself to the present, she smiled at him affectionately and he got the message that he was forgiven for offending her.

"No, the thing that I want from you, Dave, is….. to accept the headship of the Prince family", Eve said this as firmly as she could, all the while looking into his eyes to insure that when he answered she would know whether he is being honest or not.

The boy in question was at the time, for lack of a better term, dumbfounded. He knew that it was possible for an outsider, someone not born or married into the family, could head a magical family if he had the permission of the previous head; in this case, Eve's father giving her the power to choose who she wanted to head the family, as she had found out about her disability, and accepted it, before her father had died. But he never considered that Eve would have wanted him to head her family.

Eve, understanding what must be going through Dave's head at the moment, tried to explain the situation as much as she could.

"Dave, I know I am not your mother", seeing that he was about to interrupt, she continued without giving him that opportunity, "Your _real _mother, Dave; but I consider you as much my son as she does and that is why I want you, my _son _to head my family and continue my legacy, as I know you would… with that sneaky little brain of yours", she added playfully to quench the emotions that were running rampant in her heart, and if she read his eyes correctly, then in his as well.

For a couple of breaths, neither person moved. But then Dave flew into Eve's arms, almost knocking her down, the keyword being 'almost', as her body was still in her forties because of her powerful magic. She felt Dave rocking with what she assumed were sobs, as she herself had some tears rolling down her cheeks without her permission. She held him gently, but firmly, while he cried his eyes out. Her robes were soaking with tears but she didn't care in the least.

After almost fifteen minutes, Dave calmed down enough to remove himself from Eve's arms; although he still held her hands in his, to keep himself calm, Eve suspected. She didn't mind because she herself needed the physical contact to reassure her heart that Dave didn't run away from her because she told him she wanted to be his mother.

Dave took some deep breaths to ensure himself that his voice would not crack and, said in a tentative voice, "I will accept the headship of the Prince family, _if." _She was rejoiced until he indicated that there will be a stipulation. It broke her heart because she had thought that his acceptance of the headship was the indicator that he had accepted her as his mother. _'Alas!'_

"If?" She prompted him in a detached voice. To her surprise, Dave flashed her, what she calls, his _cheeky arrogant grin. 'The nerve of him.'_

"_If_ you let me call you Mom", he said in voice that completely mismatched the grin he was sporting on his face; and that is why she was confused for a couple of moments as to what he had said after that God-forsaken _if_. Then she saw his expression which had turned into nervous hesitation. Then it hit her. Her eyes widened when she realized what he had said.

But she wanted to make sure, so she said, "Dave, what did you say you want?" He again misinterpreted her question and started panicking but she held his hands comfortingly and looked into his eyes, while smiling slightly.

Taking comfort from her actions, Dave said in a very quiet but firm voice, "Can I call you Mom?"

After hearing him ask that question for the second time, she was so overwhelmed that she became unable to say anything, so she simply bobbed her head in positive, while fresh tears pricked her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

Dave was simply mesmerized when he saw Eve….. No, Mom, nodding her head, giving him the best birthday gift she had ever given him. But he wanted to make sure, so he said, in a very quiet voice, "Mom?"

When she heard Dave actually call her that, Eve couldn't think of anything so she merely hugged Dave with all the strength she could muster, while both of them were positively wailing in delight.

After almost fifteen minutes of crying, both mother and son extracted themselves from each other and tried to smarten themselves up. Then suddenly, Eve sat up straight and her eyes widened in shock and fear. At that moment, she had remembered a promise she had made to her nephew, telling him that she would never take _Harry's_ family away from him. But…..what had just happened would do that very thing; although she knew it wasn't intentional but still…

"Are you going to throw another _mummy_ tamper, Mom?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow disbelievingly. No matter how she was feeling, his blunt behaviour immediately evaporated her worries and hearing him call her 'Mom' again was enough to make her crack a smile at him. But that didn't mean she wasn't feeling guilty about whatever she had unknowingly done to Dave's real family.

'_What if he doesn't want anything to do with them anymore? But….. No, he wouldn't. He had just said earlier that he loved his real mother the same way that he loved her. But still, _earlier _when he had said that, they hadn't decided to change their relationship from Mentor-Apprentice or Guardian-Charge to Mother-Son!'_

Her thoughts were running at a speed of a mile per second and she was just about to have a panic attack when Dave started waving his hands in front of her face; except this time he was cheekily mocking her at the same time.

"I knew you were having another _mummy_tantrum. Some mother I have, always having tantrums and making me hear her mile long rants. Oh, Merlin! Come on, Mom, Earth to….", he would have continued his mocking if she had not interrupted him.

She asked him with a patient voice, "Dave, you know that someone had handed your Guardianship to me, right?"

Instead of answering her question, he asked his own question, though his voice was not as patient as his mother's , "Mom, I have told you this before and I am going to repeat myself again and again and again that _you _are not stealing anyone's spot from my heart, neither will you ever try to. You know why I can say that so confidently?"

Shocked by his voice she could only nod her head in negative. Seeing that he had startled his mother by berating her like that, Dave tried to pursue his point patiently, "That is because you have your own place, Mom; and you don't have to worry about me not wanting my real mother because I want her and I always will. Just quit being so impossible already, Mom. It's my birthday today."

She really wanted to believe him, but decided that she would believe it when she would see it, which was going to happen soon anyway. For the time being, she heeded her son's request and tried to cheer up for his sake.

'_After all, it is my _spoiled prince's _birthday.'_

"And Mom?" He called for her attention again. When she looked at him, he gave her that same mischievous grin and said just as cheekily, "My sneaky brain is not that small."

Eve gave a hearty laugh at that smart-ass remark of Dave…No, her son, and felt tension go away from her body.


	5. Re-Introduction of the Potters

**Chapter V- Re-Introduction of the Potters**

**31****st**** July, 1997**

The morning of the 31st of July found the Potters' kitchen in a very cheerful mood. And why not? It was the seventeenth birthday of the oldest, not _the _oldest, son of the family. All the younger members of the house, sans the aforementioned boy, were seated on the kitchen table while their mother was cooking a larger than regular breakfast, as she knew that her husband's best friends would visit them, as they always do on all of her children's birthdays.

'_My children',_ she thought sadly, as a stray tear rolled down her cheek before she could compose herself. _'It had been almost fifteen years. One would think the pain might reduce. But at least he must be happy wherever he is.'_

She would have continued like this if it hadn't been for her husband, who had entered the kitchen just in time to see the lonely tear escape his beautiful wife's lovely eyes, encircling his arms around her waist from behind. He knew perfectly well why she was sad on this happy day. After all, it had been his stupidity that had forced Lily to part from her firstborn son so that he wouldn't be subjected to neglect by one of his parents. No matter how many times Lily had tried to convince James that it hadn't been entirely his fault, that she had made that decision, he still had the feeling that he failed everyone, not only his wife and eldest son but everyone.

"He is happy wherever he is, Lily", Lily thought the confidence she heard in James's voice was fake, but it was not.

James still remembered that day as if it had been yesterday.

**Flashback:**

He had just received the letter he was waiting for. Yesterday, his second son, for everyone, had left them to start his first year at Hogwarts and he had made bets with Sirius that Aries will be sorted into Ravenclaw, as he had inherited his mother's brains, while Padfoot was rooting for Gryffindor.

So now that they had the letter in hand, excitedly mocking each other and waiting for the verdict so that they could rub their victory in the other's face, they were both surprised to find that the letter was not from Aries, but from his older brother Charlus, who was in his fourth year. Then they shrugged it off and read it anyway as, verdict or not, the letter was still from their son/Godson.

But as they kept on reading, their eyebrows started disappearing behind their hairline at such a swift rate that when both of them had finished reading, the expression they were sporting would have made the Lovegoods jealous.

Lily, who was cooking breakfast while this scene was taking place, sat on the table beside her husband and was about to dig in when she noticed that _the _James and Sirius duo was actually eating without making a sound. She was about to complement her husband for this matured behaviour when she really looked at the both of them and immediately became worried.

"James, what has happened?" She asked her husband hesitantly. No matter how many years pass, she would never forget the Dark times when Voldemort was still active. Add that to her second son's, Charlus's, _adventures_ and Quidditch accidents at Hogwarts, and she was always on the edge whenever she was witnessing a scene like this. So it was a very much relieved Lily who sighed in relief, when her husband recovered from his state of shock and answered her question, although somewhat shakily.

"Nothing, Lily. It's just a letter from Charlie", and with that he gave the letter to Lily.

After reading the letter, Lily had a look of indifference on her face, although she was a bit shocked to know that her youngest son was sorted into Slytherin. After all, she knew very well how ambitious and determined Harry was; only Lily used this nickname for Aries.

But then she remembered how shocked James and Sirius looked. _'Obviously, it would have taken for Merlin himself to come and tell those two how Slytherin Harry acted'_, she thought incredulously. Then an errant and dangerous thought came to the forefront of her mind and she immediately looked into both of the men's eyes, searching for any signs of anger. She found none.

Lily breathed out another sigh of relief. So it was clear that both of them were merely shocked that Harry was in Slytherin and didn't thought any less of him just because he was in a different school house. Still, just because she was happy about it didn't mean that everyone would be too. She could imagine that it would take some time for James and Sirius to get over this. But what really concerned her was how Harry himself was taking this shock.

'I know Charlus is there, but still…..Charlus himself is just fourteen. How would he know how to comfort his younger brother?' she thought while trying to imagine what must be going through her second favourite, _her_ Harry was still her favourite, son's head. He must be feeling bad, as his two role models were sorted into Gryffindor and he wanted to follow the family tradition.

Of all her children, only Harry knew that his eldest brother was still alive, not like everyone else who thought that _her_ Harry had died fifteen years ago due to the magical backlash he had suffered from, and fought for two months with, when Voldemort had attacked them; and that is why Lily was one of Aries's role models for what she did for Harry's well-being.

And so Lily made the decision then and there that she would go and talk to her son personally, and she was just about to tell James about this when she noticed that both men had risen from their chairs.

"James?" Lily asked, a little panicked now as she thought her previous assessment was wrong and James _was _actually angry about this whole situation. That was until she heard James talk.

"We're going to Hogwarts, Lily. I think Aries might be feeling a little odd at the moment, as we always encouraged the thought of Slytherins being evil to him. It's our fault and it is totally fair that we should go and undo it. I will not repeat my previous mistake, Lily."

Lily was so overwhelmed by her husband's thoughtful response that all she could do was jump from her chair and thank her husband _properly_ for doing this.

When Sirius and James jumped out of Remus's floo, who had broken the _alleged _curse that was set on the position of Defence Professor by remaining the DADA professor for two years in a row, and walked to an empty classroom Remus was leading them to, where Aries was going to meet them accompanied by his Godfather, and coincidently, head of House.

When all the general pleasantries were performed, Sirius, being himself, started taking right away.

"Look, Aries. We don't care what house you are in as long as you are happy there, alright. Forget whatever we told you about Slytherins being evil or what not. Just remember we care for you and love you all the same, and don't think any less of you….." Sirius would have gone on until lunch, tomorrow's, if it hadn't been for Aries who just hugged Sirius and, without saying anything, thanked him for his support and understanding.

It was then James's turn. He would have done this the same way that his best friend had if Aries, after letting go of Sirius, had not turned to him and looked at James's eyes with his own pleading ones, which were so much like James minus the glasses. It was enough for James to open his heart and present it to his son, so he did just that.

Without breaking eye contact, James kneeled in front of his son and started talking, "Aries, I just want to tell you that I have lost one of my sons, my eldest son, because of my stupidity and childish behaviour. I cannot and will not forgive myself if I do something like that to you. You are who you are Aries and I don't care if you are a Slytherin and neither should you.

"It's actually a good thing if you change your point of view. Think of it this way, you are actually the first in the Potter family to be ambitious and cunning enough to be sorted into Slytherin; and don't worry about anything. All of us, including your mother and brother, are proud of you and will always be; well as long as you get into the team, of course."

The weight that had settled itself onto Aries's shoulders, since the sorting, started dissipating as James started talking; because it was James from the beginning that Aries was worried about.

He had seen the pride his father always had in his eyes whenever he talked about his older brother, Charlie; the same pride his mum had whenever she talked about him. He still remembered how happy and elated his father had become when he had heard that Charlie was sorted into Gryffindor.

That was why he was nervous for his father's reaction to his sorting. But as his father kept on talking, while looking into his eyes with sheer honesty, Aries started relaxing visibly and the last sentence his father spoke was more than enough for Aries to take in so he just dropped all pretence and appearances he was expected to keep while in the presence of his professors, all right his uncle and Godfather but still, and jumped into his father's arms and hugged him as if his life depended on it.

James had thought that he was over-reacting when he decided to come to Hogwarts to see how Aries was handling his sorting. But now, as he was hugging Aries, he was 100% sure that his decision about being safe than sorry saved his son from carrying extra baggage.

He was about to say something comforting to put his son into further ease, when, his once nemesis now….kind-of-friend, Severus spoke up.

"Aries, you now have proof that you have disappointed no one by being sorted into Slytherin. I assume, now that you have nothing to worry about, you wouldn't want to completely miss your first ever class, would you?" He asked Aries in his normal stiff voice, secretly delighted that his Godson was in his House; although he wouldn't show any of that happiness so brashly.

'_I'm the head of Slytherin house, after all.'_

Seeing him nod in return, Severus gave Aries his time-table, which he couldn't give before as he had to pick him from the Slytherin Common Room for this meeting; something he will be talking about with Potter and Black.

"I have already notified Professor Flitwick about this meeting so he will let it go this time. Don't get used to it though", he said the last bit in lower than his normal voice to make sure that his Godson would get the message; it was of course unnecessary as Aries had inherited much more than mere looks and brains from Lily.

Nonetheless, Snape's warning had the desired effect on Aries, as no sooner had the warning left Snape's lips than Aries was saying goodbyes to his father and honorary uncles and hurrying out of the classroom.

James was, by now, used to Snape's, James would never get on first name basis with him, excessive need for discipline so didn't react at all to what just happened between Aries and his Godfather.

It was James, and Sirius although not as willingly, who had suggested to Lily to ask Snape to become Aries's Godfather.

Sirius, however, was a different story altogether; he was glaring daggers at Snape. He had also buried hatches with Snape when Moony had reassured him and Prongs that Snape had given him more than enough evidence to make him, Remus, believe that Harry will be safe, happy and healthy wherever he now was.

But that didn't mean that he will act all buddy-buddy with Snape or that he would suddenly start trusting Snape and let go of whatever he did, especially when it concerned any of the Potter children; whom he considered as much his own children as he considered James and Remus his brothers.

So after seeing Snape telling, no practically commanding Aries to go to his class, Sirius had to say something.

"Did you really have to do that, Snape?" He asked more than a little angrily.

Snape, however, ignored Sirius completely and turned to James.

"Potter, I have something I have to tell you. However, I will not tolerate you coming between me and my duties. So remember, the next time you _need_ to meet any of your children personally when they are at the school then you better wait until the weekends to meet them. I will let today's instance go because I, personally, thought that Aries needed the reassurance, from you and Black especially, as you two had made it your personal little crusade of vilifying the Slytherin House in front of your children",

Snape said it all in his most unpleasant voice; although the unpleasant sneer, which used to accompany this voice whenever he was talking to the man in front of him, was absent, a sign that their school time grudge was over now.

James, after realizing that he and Sirius had indeed disrupted Snape's morning duties, on the first day of the school nonetheless, said in an apologetic voice, "I am sorry, Snape. It will never happen again. But it was as you said, I had created this mess and so I wanted to clear it as soon as possible. I really am sorry for this. To you as well, Remus."

Remus just waved off his apology. Then he got a little nervous when Sirius broke the silence that had settled in the classroom after James's apology.

"What was that you wanted to tell us?"

The question was meant for Snape but Sirius wasn't looking at him when he asked the question, indicator that he was still a little angry with Snape, regardless. Snape, however, looked at Sirius as if he had just realised that he was there in the classroom. Then he spoke, looking at nothing in particular.

"It is not something I want to tell you, Black. It is something I have to tell you as I had promised someone a long time ago." At the last sentence, he sneakily looked at Remus, who just as sneakily nodded in assent, non-verbally telling Snape that it was the right time.

Their silent conversation had gone completely unnoticed by Sirius who was still looking poisonously at Snape at the time. But James did; and turned to his werewolf best friend questioningly, but all he got in return from Remus was a deliberate blink which told James to trust him and be patient for the time being. So James, who, before losing his son, wouldn't have agreed to Remus, did so as he was told, now, as he had learnt his lesson that being brash and inconsiderate wouldn't do for him.

And so Snape, who had sent a Patronus message to the Headmaster explaining to him that he was unable to take the morning classes and to sub for him because of that, started telling James and Sirius what he had restricted Remus from; and as Snape's tale proceeded, both James and Sirius's knees became week. They were just about to collapse on the floor, when Remus, who had been following both of their reactions, conjured two chairs right behind them; so that instead of collapsing on the floor, James and Sirius merely collapsed on the chairs haphazardly, but without any pain that would have come with their original course of actions.

After half an hour of Snape telling them _everything_ he knew, and had hidden from everyone except for Remus, about Harry, he sat down on the teacher's desk drinking water from the goblet he had conjured, waiting for reaction from Potter and Black. He was 100% sure that the first thing that will come out of Black's lips would be an insult at him followed closely by an accusation. He admitted to himself that Black had indeed changed for the better and would treat Harry justly and like any other Potter child if Harry was to return to the Potters.

But that didn't mean that Snape would delude himself by thinking that Sirius would trust him blindly and understand, or try to, his reasons behind those of his actions.

So Snape was surprised, not pleasantly, when Sirius rose from his chair on wobbly knees and walked to his desk and then kneeled in front of him with pleading, desperate eyes.

Then Sirius said with a detached voice, "Are you telling the truth, Severus? Do you really know where Harry is? Please, can you please take me to him so that I could apologize to him for whatever I did to him? Please, Severus, I'll do anything? Please?"

Even in his shock, Snape recognized the words Sirius had unknowingly begged to him with; Snape had said those words in that same desperate, detached and sorrowful voice to Dumbledorewhile begging to _him _to save his oldest and truest friend's life; although Dumbledore had ignored and mocked his begging as his, Snape's intentions were not pure at the time.

But he could see that Sirius was honest when he said that he wanted to apologize to Harry. Unfortunately, he had to decline Sirius his request of meeting Harry; as even though Sirius and, by the looks of it, James were ready for Harry, Harry wasn't and wouldn't be until he met Lily and both of them recognized each other without external interference from anyone, even him.

So he started to explain to James and Sirius what he had done to ensure that Harry will come back to the Potter family when Lily was completely ready to accept the fact that Harry could be happy with them.

When he was finished explaining about the potion he had fed Harry and its effects, both James and Sirius, who had resumed his seat albeit still a bit dazed about everything he was hearing from Snape, understood everything he was trying to tell them; and even if they were a bit disappointed about not meeting Harry sooner, they were more than elated to know that he was happy and safe with a capable person Snape trusted; and more than elated to know that they could one day see Harry again.

And so it was a very happy and contented Sirius who actually skipped on his way out of the classroom with Remus on his heels; Snape had skilfully evaded James's questions about why Remus had not told them about all this, as he had deduced, from the silent conversation he and Snape had before Snape started this explanation, that Remus knew about Harry's whereabouts.

Now, only Snape and James were in the classroom; this time Snape did not bother to anticipate any reactions from his former nemesis as he was still a bit shaken from what had happened earlier with Sirius.

If he had, he would again have been wrong as he would never in a million years have anticipated James's reaction. Just as Snape was turning away to get out of the classroom to get to his office, someone turned him around and pulled him into a bear hug. When he was released, he was face to face with James, who had a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

After a few awkward moments, James composed himself and tried to say something but couldn't. So Snape took pity on him.

"I did it for Lily," With those words, he again turned to leave the room; but when he reached the door of the classroom, he heard a small voice say, "Thank you, Severus."

**Flashback over**

James didn't like to hide things from Lily; the last time he did that she almost killed Sirius because she thought Sirius was their Secret Keeper not the _rat_. Sirius still suffered from nightmares of that night when he entered the cottage at Gordic's Hollow after the attack and demise of Voldemort. If it hadn't been for him, James, and Dumbledore screaming their throats dry over Lily's threats, which she was also shouting at Sirius while she was searching for her wand, she would have caused Sirius some serious, no pun intended, damage. But even though Lily didn't cast a spell at Sirius, he was still terrified.

However, James was not afraid of Lily. He was just feeling so…..so useless that he had the information that would make Lily's life a lot easier but he couldn't give it to her, for her own sake. It took all of his self-control to stop himself from spilling everything to Lily whenever she was feeling sad over Harry.

"You really think so, James?"

It took James some seconds to come back to the present to realize that it was Lily who had asked the question.

So after getting his head working again, James replied, "Yes, Lily, I trust Severus and am sure that wherever he has sent Harry, Harry is safe and happy." Turned out, it was the right thing to say, as Lily turned around in James's arms and kissed him softly on the lips as a thank you.

After a few seconds, Lily ended the kiss, leaving a very unsatisfied James, and started the stove which had extinguished as a startled Lily had dropped her wand when her husband had hugged her from behind without any sound. She looked back at James, who was pouting at the moment, and said smiling, "Go James, the children must be awake by now. I will bring the breakfast in a bit."

James, seeing that Lily was alright, smiled back and went out to find the dining table filled to the capacity with all his children and his two best friends, who were cracking some jokes at the moment for the entertainment of James's twin daughters, whom the Marauders had dubbed Miniature Lilies, minus the eyes.

James felt delighted at the scene playing in front of him. Aries, his third son, was talking animatedly with his older brother, Charlie, who was sporting dark circles under his eyes which made James grin mischievously at his son.

'Oh, how proud he makes me! Following in his dad's footsteps on every turn. First, getting into the Gryffindor Quidditch team, then being the top of the year at Transfiguration. And now dating a smart and powerful redhead.'

While James was thinking this, his two best friends noticed him standing in the doorway and decided to take the micky out of him.

"Hey, Prongs", that made James turn at the speaker, which was unsurprisingly, Sirius who continued, smirking mischievously, when he had his target's attention, "Was Lily making you cook breakfast for us? Because if that is the case then I don't think I am going to take any chances."

Unfortunately, for Sirius, Lily chose that very moment to enter the room, levitating the food. It took Lily to only quirk her eyebrow intimidatingly at Sirius to shut him up. Then she walked behind her older son's chair, while the food settled gracefully on the table.

As everyone started eating, Lily kissed her son on the cheek and started talking, with a smile, "Happy birthday, Charlus. I'm really happy today. Now, I know your dad and Godfather are buying you that new broom you wanted today", at this she looked at her husband and Sirius with narrowed eyes, while the two men were looking anywhere but at her.

She turned again to her son, who was looking apologetically at his father but grinning all the same, and continued, "So that left me to follow the tradition."

With that she pulled a gold wrist-watch she had acquired custom made for her son, it had his initials on the back, and handed it to him with another kiss on his cheek. Then she walked around the table to sit on her chair, which was across from Charlus.

Meanwhile, Charlus was admiring the gift his mother had given him. Then he wore it on his left wrist and looked up to see his mother looking at him affectionately. She was looking beautiful, like always, with her vivacious red hair cascading down to her shoulder blades and framing her heart-shaped face. Her emerald eyes were crinkling with happiness as she smiled at him.

He smiled back at her and said, "Thanks, Mum. It's beautiful!"

Lily just smiled wider at her son and just kept looking at him as he started piling food on his plate. Charlus was a carbon copy of James; Lily still kept up with the muggle world as she thought it was the only link she had with her late parents. Charlus was exactly like James, and not just in appearance; he was a prodigy in Transfiguration just like his dad and mediocre in Potions, much to the annoyance of Sev.

At that she smiled again. She had never ever imagined that James and Sev would get on first name basis with each other. But since that visit to Hogwarts three years ago, James and Sev had shown a certain amount respect for each other. Although, whenever she asked James for details of that visit he always evaded her without giving anything away. Lily believed that James was hiding something from her but didn't think it was that important so let it go.

Halfway through breakfast, four owls swooped into the room and dropped letters in front of the four children. While the boys just picked up theirs as they were used to it, for the twin girls, who had turned eleven last December, it was the first time. So, naturally, they were excited to finally receive their letters, their Hogwarts letters to be exact, as it was their dream to go to Hogwarts since the first time they saw their older brother board the Hogwarts Express seven years ago.

"Mum, Dad, Look! We are finally going", the younger, and louder, of the twins, Roselyn, Rosy for short although she didn't like being called that, yelled excitedly from her chair where she was sitting beside Remus.

She had the same looks as her sister, Selene, although Roselyn was prettier than her twin. While both of their eyes looked similar from afar, which were hazel like their father, Roselyn's had green flakes in their irises which enhanced her features. Both had red hair, inherited from their mother.

Although, that was all the similarities they had with one other. While Selene was more studious and reserved, her sister was more tomboyish and loud with her fiery temper and passion for Quidditch she shared with her older brothers, who were both on their House teams, and father.

The reason Roselyn said 'finally' was because she, and her twin, were really put out last year when they didn't receive their letters as they were going to turn eleven after September 1st. The same thing had happened with their older brother, Aries, who was born on 3rd of September and had to wait for a year because of only three days.

Lily shook her head affectionately at her youngest, and favourite among the twins, daughter's antics. She pampered Roselyn more than she did any of her children. She couldn't help it; Roselyn was that sweet enough that nobody could help it. But that didn't mean Lily _preferred_ Roselyn over any of her other children, she just couldn't say no to that sweet little angel with pouty lips.

While the two sisters talked excitedly among themselves about going to Diagon Alley for their school shopping, their older brother was staring at his letter which he hadn't yet opened. He had expected it to be heavy as he knew he was the only candidate for the Quidditch Captaincy, but he didn't expect it to be this heavy. In his shock, he didn't even open the envelope of the letter.

James, also looking at his two daughters with eyes full of mirth, looked over at his favourite son and was confused as to why Charlus was looking at his letter like that. So James cleared his throat to get his son's attention. Charlus jerked his head in his father's direction and blinked his eyes a couple of times; then non-verbally asked his dad what he wanted.

So James playfully said, "I believe Minerva sent that letter for you to read it, Charlie."

That got the attention of everyone on the table, even the twin sisters who were arguing with each other why first years were not allowed brooms in the school.

After a few seconds, his mother asked Charlie the same thing, although a little more tactfully than her husband, "What is it, Charlus? Why aren't you opening your letter?"

Charlus didn't say anything in answer to his parents, but heeded them nonetheless. When he cracked open the Hogwarts seal and turned the envelope upside down in the hopes of emptying it, instead of one badge, as Charlus had expected, two tumbled down with three pieces of parchment.

For a few seconds no one spoke a word, but as it became clear what that meant, James and Sirius both jumped from their respective chairs and started complaining about how unfair life was while Remus and Lily sat on their chairs looking smug.

While the adults were behaving childishly, the children, Charlus included, were looking at the two badges in wonder. Finally, Aries spoke in his soft voice, "Now, that's something I never thought would happen. You really do follow in Dad's footsteps religiously, don't you?" Then all four of them started laughing together, which prompted the other two adults to start laughing as well.

James and Sirius were still complaining about losing the bet Lily and Remus had made to them about Charlus becoming Head-Boy, but you could still see the pride in both of their eyes that was for their son/Godson.

**Six hours ago…**

He had just severed the connection between his and Ron's mirror, through which he was speaking with Ginny; although Ron didn't know anything about it. She wanted to be the first to wish him 'Happy Birthday', but that didn't mean she would let this opportunity to talk to her boyfriend go to waste. It wasn't until Ginny's head was practically hung on her shoulders sleepily and her chin was touching the top of her pyjama top that Charlus told her to go to sleep.

He was asleep even before his head touched the pillow because of exhaustion. But instead of falling into Morpheus's plane, he woke up with a strange feeling in his head. He was about to close his eyes again when he found out that he couldn't. Then he started to look around in panic. What he saw shocked him beyond belief. It was not his bedroom he was standing in, he was sitting in a chair which was facing the fireplace. He was about to stand up when he noticed that he was shorter than he was before he fell asleep.

Then Charlus realized something. His hand, which was also shorter, was petting something; something with scales and was speaking in a slithering whisper. He knew what it was. After what he had seen in his second year at Hogwarts, it was no surprise that he could sense a snake's presence anywhere.

The snake he was petting had said that someone named Charity Burbage had killed herself. This made him really angry.

'But why? I don't even know her. I mean I have heard the name, but nothing else.'

Then a man with average build who looked about his father's age came into his line of sight. He was about to open his mouth when he, Charlus, shouted something in a high pitched voice and the man dropped to his knees with his lips pressed together tightly.

After a minute, the man composed his features and stood up, waiting for something. Turned out, he was waiting for Charlus, or whatever it was that Charlus was trapped in, to speak. And it did speak in the same high pitched and cold voice.

"I needed her, Crouch. She would have been the perfect pawn I needed at Hogwarts. Now you have to find someone who will do our bidding in the castle. And if you fail me again you will not be punished, you will be destroyed, body and soul."

The man, 'Crouch was it?', bowed fearfully but said with a firm voice, "It will be done, Master."

"Now leave Crouch. I need the time and solitude to think things through again as that filth's death changes everything", Crouch's Master, who Charlus had a very good idea who it was, spoke in a contemplative voice which was not that different from his normal one.

That was all Charlus saw as at that moment he woke up in his own bed with sweat soaking his nightshirt completely. That was not all though. His scar was hurting and causing him to have a massive headache. The last time that had happened, he was standing in front of a Hogwarts professor possessed by Voldemort, who was trying to kill him.

He wanted nothing more than to run to his father and tell him everything he had seen. Not because he was scared shitless, well there was that too, but he wanted to tell his father all this as he was the Head of the Auror Corps and he could investigate this matter thoroughly.

But it was too early. And he didn't want to worry his mother over this. He would just try to tell his dad once he finds him alone in the morning, or more like later in the day.

With that thought, he fell back on his bed and tried to get some sleep, which was not going to come easily to Charlus.


	6. Hermione

**DISLAIMER: Harry Potter and Universe is owned by J. K. Rowling and her associates.**

**A.N.: Sorry to everyone who thought that last chapter was a bit confusing, but I will try to clear the confusing bits as much as possible in this chapter.**

** Chapter VI- Hermione**

**31****st**** July, 1997**

Lily was sitting on the dining table in her usual seat beside her husband and across from her son, Charlus, who was looking unusually quiet. At first, she thought it was because of the presence of his girlfriend's parents that was making him nervous but then she thought that no matter how alike Charlus was to James, he didn't seem like the type to be intimidated by his future in-laws, like his father was; especially when those same people were like a second family to him as he was best friends with their youngest son and had saved the very girl, who he was dating for the last one year, from a life and death situation.

'Then what is troubling him?', Lily wondered. He had been acting like that since the morning and only relaxed when someone was wishing him 'Happy birthday' or giving him their gifts. Then she decided that she will confront him after the dinner was concluded.

Just then Lily heard a familiar voice of a girl she loved like her own and who reminded her so much of herself. She was a muggleborn, just like Lily, and yet she was the top of her year, just like Lily. She was Charlus's other best friend and Lily would be thankful to God for that until her dying breath; because, no offense to Ron, without Hermione, Charlus would have been just as arrogant as James was in his school years. Hermione was the only one who kept those two on a tight leash and saved their arses from tight spots whenever they charged in an unknown situation like only Gryffindors would, which was almost always.

Currently, the girl in question was sitting beside her other son, Harry, who considered Hermione an elder sister figure. They were talking about an article they had both read in _Transfiguration Today!_ published by some students from Salem Institute of Magic.

Lily got further proof that something was really wrong with her elder son as he would have joined his brother and his best friend in this conversation as it was about his favourite subject. Now Lily was resolved to grab the earliest opportunity she would get to talk to her son in private.

Then her attention was again diverted to the bushy haired witch who was asking her something, which she didn't hear in her contemplative state.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I wasn't paying attention. Did you ask me something?" Lily asked her gently.

"Yes, Mrs Potter, I…." She would have continued if Lily hadn't interrupted her.

"Hermione, how many times do I have to remind you to call me 'Lily'?" I scolded her playfully.

The said girl ducked her head to hide her rosy cheeks from display and said with her head still bowed although her voice was steady, regardless, "I think one more time, Mrs Potter."

At that many people on the table, who were now paying attention to their conversation, shook their heads disbelievingly, as they all knew that Lily never gave the prestige of being on first name basis with her to anyone that easily. Hell, even her husband had to work hard for almost seven years to achieve that feat.

Only one person sitting on the table, aside from Hermione, was fortunate enough to get Lily's permission to call her by her first name without much fuss and he was at the moment sitting on Aries's other side.

Lily, however, frowned disappointedly. She was trying to get the stubborn girl to call her by her first name from the moment she set eyes on her, which was when Lily had went to King's Cross with her family to send Charlus off on his maiden voyage on the Hogwarts Express. She had fallen in love with Hermione the moment she saw her, huddled in a corner outside of the portal to the Platform 9 ¾ with her parents and clutching a copy of Hogwarts, A History to her chest as if her life depended on it. She had reminded Lily so much of herself. At least, she got Hermione to become friends with Charlus that day, something her parents were delighted about.

Coming back to the present, Lily said, after emitting a frustrated sigh, "Alright, what did you want to know, Hermione?"

Hermione relaxed a bit after hearing that Lily wasn't angry with her for being so formal. The reason behind her politeness was that she idolized Lily. But not delving on her thoughts, she repeated the question she had asked Lily a few minutes ago when she and Aries couldn't find anything more on a particular name that they had read on that aforementioned article.

"Mrs Potter, we wanted to ask if you know anything about this 'David Principe'."

Everybody on the table was now paying attention to the conversation, so nobody noticed Severus choking on his own breath as he heard the name they were discussing, noting it was pronounced wrong. Severus had, of course, recognized the name. How could he not? He had been in close correspondence with his aunt since the day he had sent Harry into her care; not that he didn't trust her for keeping Harry safe and happy, but for the sole reason of making sure that the potion's effects were under control and, he wouldn't admit it to her but he suspected she already knew, because he liked to know how Harry was doing.

The latest owl, which he had received just moments before he was going to leave his house for this dinner, had informed him that his aunt and Harry had decided to elevate their relationship from Mentor-Apprentice to Mother-Son. For a moment, he was concerned what repercussions this development will have on Harry's perspective about his real family. But those concerns evaporated when he read that Harry had promised Eve that she was not stealing anybody's place from his heart; although his aunt herself did not sound convinced by that promise, Severus, having read about the boy all these years and knowing his aunt's reluctance at accepting the fact that she deserved to be loved, deduced that there was nothing to be afraid of.

So after making sure that nobody had noticed his faux pas, Severus, too, started following the conversation as he wanted to know what was that his Godson, and the most talented brewer in Gryffindor he had seen after Lily herself, wanted to know about Harry.

"What about him?" It was not Lily who asked the question, but James.

This time Aries responded, with his soft voice, "It's nothing important, Dad. It's just, the guy is a genius. Last time I read his name, it was in an article detailing a spell he had created to remotely control and/or manipulate a set of Runes from almost anywhere in the world. He is the reason why Headmaster Dumbledore didn't have to return to his office at Hogwarts to check on the ones at Hogwarts."

That picked both Lily and Hermione's interests, who asked at the same time, "How did you know that?"

After realizing that he had made a huge lapse, he first looked at the two women who had asked him the question with wide eyes, then reflexively turned to his Godfather sitting beside him, who at the time was examining the sealing of the dining room as if it was the finest piece of art in the whole wide world. That was all that was needed for the people in the room to deduce who had informed Aries of that little fact.

In an attempt to get the spotlight away from him and his Godfather, Aries asked, a little uncertainly, "So…..have you guys heard of him?"

Lily narrowed her eyes at her most favourite person in the room then answered him, "No Harry, I haven't, although, you pronounced the name wrong."

At that, Hermione, who was also glaring at Aries, turn to Lily and quirked an eyebrow, questioningly, not believing that she could pronounce a name wrong. In response, Lily merely pointed out, "It's Italian, Hermione. It's pronounced 'Prin-chi-pay'."

Realizing, it was indeed her mistake, Hermione nodded her thanks to Lily, and continued her conversation with Aries, while having a drink or a bite once in a while. Lily, while watching the duo complimenting the unknown prodigy, immersed herself in another memory which concerned Hermione and Harry.

**Flashback:**

It was the summer before Charlus's second year at Hogwarts and the last day of Hermione and Ron's stay at the Potter Mansion as it would become a kind of a tradition for the two best friends to visit their third best friend on his birthday and stay with him for at least seven days at his house before returning back to their respective families for the remainder of the summer holidays.

It was originally Lily's idea so that she could spend some more time with Hermione and get to know her. In return, the two friends asked Lily to visit each of their families and have dinner with them on either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. So from then on, the Potters would have the Christmas Eve's dinner with the Grangers and the New Year's Eve's dinner at the Burrow.

So after spending seven happy days with the Potters and saying his goodbyes to everyone with a promise to Charlus and Hermione that he would owl them, Ron disappeared from the Potters' fireplace in green flames.

Hermione, on the other hand, had to use muggle means for returning back to her parents. Grabbing this opportunity to spend some more time with the brilliant and driven girl, Lily volunteered to accompany Hermione on her journey to her house.

So it was because of that, Lily found herself on the receiving end of Hermione's endless barrage of questions about the Magical World, as she still didn't know many things about the new world. Lily, though, didn't mind as it was, in fact, Hermione's thirst for knowledge that Lily liked about the girl so much. So they kept on walking to the nearest remote location, from where Lily could summon the Knight Bus which will take them to Hermione's house in Crawley, while Hermione kept on asking and Lily patiently answering.

It wasn't until after the wild ride on the Knight Bus, which made both Lily and Hermione a little light-headed, and they were walking down a street which was a mile away from Hermione's house, a sneaky trick by Lily to prolong their talk, did Hermione ask Lily the question she had been wanting to ask her since she had befriended Charlus's younger brother, Aries, while her stay with the Potters.

"Mrs Potter…."

"Lily, Hermione!" Lily said exasperatedly.

"Uh…yeah, sorry. So as I was saying, I wanted to ask you something", Hermione said awkwardly.

Lily, grinning mischievously, playfully said, "So what have you been doing for the last fifteen minutes, dear?"

Hermione's face turned redder than tomato at those words and it took Lily five minutes to calm the girl down enough so that her blood circulation returned to normal. Then she said again, this time without the voice full of mirth, "So what did you want to ask me, Hermione?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something about Aries?" Hermione asked, a little jerkily.

"Hermione, calm down and when you are completely fine, ask me what you really want to know about Harry", Lily said patiently, internally berating herself for making the girl uncomfortable. 'I really should spend less time with James and Sirius when they are together unless Remus is there with me', she decided.

"_That!_ That is exactly what I wanted to know. Why do you call Aries by his older brother's name?"

Lily was confused when Hermione exclaimed loudly, earning some looks from the pedestrians. But when she asked her actual question, staying inconspicuous was the last thing on Lily's mind. Suddenly, her knees became weak, so Lily grabbed Hermione's hand and led her to a bench and sat down.

Hermione was very nervous; a little scared actually, as she thought that Lily was angry with her for asking such a personal question. But when Lily spoke to Hermione next, her nervousness and fear turned into confusion.

"Why didn't say late, Hermione?"

For a moment, Hermione didn't do anything more than blink her eyes in confusion. Then it clicked her.

'Of course!'

So in an apologetic voice, which kids mostly used when they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "Uh….Mrs Potter, um, Airestoldmeeveryting!" She said the last part a little louder and a little faster than she intended.

But miraculously Lily understood every word Hermione said and was dumbfounded as to why Harry told Hermione about _her_ Harry when he hadn't even told Charlus or Roselyn, whom he adored. So she wanted to know what and exactly why he had told Hermione.

"Hermione, exactly what did Harry tell you about, you know, _my _Harry?" Lily's voice was weak but Hermione heard her.

Hermione took some time to think about how to tell Lily everything Aries had told her; then after taking a deep breath Hermione started, "It was two days after Charlus's birthday. I was sitting with Aries in his room, explaining to him why we can't conjure anything edible magically when we heard you talking to Mr Potter outside the room. Suddenly we heard you saying 'my Harry'; that got me curious, so I asked Aries what you were talking about.

"At first, he didn't want to tell me, but then when I made a promise that I wouldn't even tell Charlus about it, he told me everything you, Mr Potter and Mr Black told him when he heard you three talking about _a _Harry, his words; as only you called him Harry, he thought it was someone else you three were talking about."

Lily took some minutes for taking in everything Hermione had told her. After a few seconds of contemplating, Lily said, while staring at nothing in particular with misty eyes, "I always miss him. But whenever it's one of my children's birthdays, I miss him more than anything else; especially on Charlus's, who is _my_ Harry's twin.

"I must be sounding like a horrible mother, right? Talking about one of my sons like he is nothing while being so possessive about my other. What do you think? Eh, Hermione?" Lily asked indifferently, while fresh tears pricked her eyes.

Hermione didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, contemplating what to say. On one hand, Hermione agreed with whatever Lily said about her being partial to one of her son, but on the other hand, she could understand a mother's desperation to see her son.

Hermione was about to say something, when Lily spoke as if she hadn't asked Hermione, a Twelve-year-old girl, to decide if she was a horrible mother or not.

"I sent _my _Harry away from me on the 31st of December, 1981, exactly two months after Voldemort's attack on our safe house. That night, I was wounded, emotionally and physically, and James did everything he could to make me _feel_, as I was numb because of the hole that was drilled in my heart because of _my_ Harry's departure from my life. While James was comforting me that night, I conceived Aries; and for me, it was like my lost son, _my _Harry, had returned to me.

"When Aries was born nine months later, he reminded me so much of _my _Harry that if his eyes had been emerald green, I would have thought that I was holding a new-born Harry in my arms again."

Hermione was so entranced in Lily's reminiscences that she had to remind herself to breath once in a while. She couldn't believe that Lily was telling her what, Hermione suspected, Lily hadn't even told her own husband.

Furthermore, Hermione couldn't believe that she had been actually judging the lady sitting beside her to be a horrible mother when she knew what Lily had done to ensure her son's well-being. She was about to apologize to Lily, when Lily continued talking again. It seemed as though she had been bottling all these emotions in her own heart and Hermione's innocent question had broken the dam that Lily had created around those pent up emotions.

"I named him Aries in the hopes of nicknaming him Harry as the pronunciation of Aries was very identical to Harry. That does not mean that Aries is any replacement to _my _Harry. I only did that so that I could feel _my_ Harry's presence near me. I had promised myself the moment I found out that I was pregnant with Aries that I would not let the fact that my firstborn was away from me come in the way of me loving and cherishing my other children the way that they deserved.

"So even if I miss _my _Harry when I wake every morning and sleep every night, I still keep that pain at bay whenever my children need me and I will always be there whenever Charlus or Harry, I mean Aries or Roselyn or Selene need me; it was not only James who learnt the lesson of not preferring one child over the other. I will die before making a preference among my children."

That was all Lily could manage as at the last sentence, she started sobbing hard and leaned on Hermione while she cried. Hermione, for her part, remained silent as her brilliant yet young mind couldn't provide a suitable response for this particular situation. Although, she realised at that moment that her concerns of her best friend's mum being partial to one of her son were worthless.

From that moment on, Hermione decided to follow in young Aries's footsteps by considering Lily Potter nee Evans as her role model, for the sheer amount of courage the woman possessed.

Eventually, Lily calmed down from her emotional outburst and realized that she was hugging Hermione a little too tightly; and the poor girl wasn't even making any sound, either of pain or of resistance. So she let go of the girl and wiped her face with her hands in an attempt to look a little presentable. She still had to escort Hermione to her house.

She could, of course, use her wand to do that but even if the bench they were sitting at was in an isolated area, she couldn't chance breaking the Statue of Secrecy, especially, as her husband was a Ministry official, an Auror at that. So she cleaned herself up as much as she could, while Hermione sat there doing nothing in particular.

Eventually, they picked themselves up from the bench and continued there walk to the Grangers. During the journey, Hermione was unusually quiet. When they reached her house, Hermione stopped at the fence and grabbed Lily's hand.

When Lily noticed that Hermione had grabbed her hand, she looked down at her and furrowed her eyebrows questioningly. In response, Hermione merely tugged her hand downward, hoping that Lily would understand what she wanted her to do.

Lily's intelligent mind, even in the haze it was in, interpreted the twelve-year-Old's message and kneeled in front of her. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, but then suddenly, Hermione hugged Lily tightly, crying and saying something simultaneously. Lily couldn't understand any of the muffled words that Hermione uttered against her chest. So after giving Hermione one last, comforting squeeze, Lily pulled back so that she held Hermione at arm's length. Hermione stopped her incoherent words but still continued crying and sobbing once in a while.

Lily wiped any stray tears that Hermione missed when she, haphazardly, tried to wipe them off her cheeks. When she thought that Hermione had calmed down, she asked in a soft, comforting voice, "What were you trying to say, Hermione?"

The said girl, still fidgeting a bit, answered in a shaky voice, "I just wanted t….to say sorry for making you relive those memories. If I had known, I wouldn't have dreamt of asking you that question. I just….."

Before the poor girl could say anything else, Lily interrupted her by saying, "I'm glad that you asked me that question, Hermione", at that Hermione gave her a disbelieving look, so Lily tried to clarify her meaning as no matter how much she was like Lily, Hermione was still very much young, "I _needed_ to tell someone what I told you on that bench; and for why you? You remind me so much of myself when I was your age. So I thought you would understand what I wanted to say."

Hermione, in return, gave her a nod, indicating that she understood both what she told her on that bench and her reasons for telling her.

For a few more moments, both of them stood there, or in Lily's case- kneeled, then Hermione softly said, "Don't ever hesitate to ask me, Mrs Potter, if you ever need someone to listen to you."

It weren't the words, but the conviction and honesty in that little girl's voice that told Lily that she could tell this girl every secret she had locked in her heart and she would not only understand them but keep them safe, as well.

'But that didn't mean I won't take advantage of the situation', she thought devilishly.

"On one condition….." Lily left that statement hanging, waiting for Hermione to ask what the condition was. She, of course, didn't disappoint Lily, as no sooner the words were out of Lily's mouth did the girl, so innocently, exclaimed, "Anything!"

Seeing that her little trick worked, Lily said, eyes twinkling madly, "You _have _to call me 'Lily'!"

**Flashback over**

Of course, that didn't work. As the smart little minx said that she couldn't do that and when Lily asked for the reason, she said that she would give it to her when the time was right. Lily was still waiting for that day to come.

Then she looked around the table to see that most of the people were done eating and were talking among themselves. She saw her husband, now sitting between Remus and Sirius, who both had one Potter sister sitting beside them as the two girls loved to hang out with them. Her eyes then travelled to Charlus who was standing in a far corner, with Ginny, softly speaking with his girlfriend.

'I really need to get him alone; whatever it is it isn't a small matter, because Charlus never did _small _matters', she thought exasperatedly.

Then her eyes went to the Weasleys, who were sitting right across from The Marauders and her daughters, with Ron seating on Sev's now vacated chair talking with Hermione. Sev had also risen up from his seat and was talking with his Godson in another corner of the room, no doubt berating Harry for leaking such _highly dangerous _information.

No matter how sad she was inside at the moment, as she imagined where _her _Harry would have been seated if he had been here, she still felt contented to see her family and friends happy and together.

**One and Half Hour Later**

Severus was sitting on the chair he had been sitting in, two hours ago, figuring out why James had requested him to stay for a while when he was about to step in the fireplace after seeing Molly Weasley disappearing in the fireplace, on her way to the Burrow behind her husband and daughter.

Not coming with anything solid, he started looking around the table. He spotted Lily, also sitting in her usual chair, watching her son, sitting across from her, with concern. That's when he took notice of Charlus, who was sitting with his two best friends. He looked a bit odd. He was usually quiet and calm around people but this was more than that. So Severus deduced that whatever it was, it had something to do with Charlus.

Then there were James, Sirius and Remus sitting beside Lily and looking as though waiting for something to happen. Severus was just about to say what the matter was, when Albus Dumbledore entered the room, dressed in purple robes.

It wasn't unusual to find Albus in the Potter household once in a while. But it was unusual for him to be outside the castle this late in the evening, unless of course there was an emergency.

So now Severus was completely sure that whatever was the reason for this impromptu meeting, it was nothing casual.

Albus seated himself on the head of the table, indicating that it was an Order meeting, as most of the living members of the Order were in the room.

"What did you see, Charlus?"

Albus did not waste any time on the pleasantries and got directly to business. Because if it was what he thought it was, then precautionary measures needed to be taken.

Charlus, also noting the seriousness of the situation, started from the beginning.

When Charlus was finished with his story, Hermione was openly crying as the woman whom Charlus pronounced dead was none other than Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies Professor at Hogwarts.

The expressions on the other occupants of the room were very much identical to each other; all of the Marauders and Lily had pale faces as they imagined Charlus to be in Voldemort's mind. Snape kept his emotions in check but could not stop his right hand from reaching for his left wrist in a mixture of fear and realization; fear because the Dark Lord, whom he had now openly disregarded by allying with the Potters, was active again and realization as to why Albus was in such a hurry to get the facts straight. He wouldn't be surprised if the Headmaster asked him to start Charlus's Occlumency training from tonight.

Ron was also equally shocked that his friend had witnessed such a horrible scene, that too in his sleep. He would've thought it to be cool a few years ago; but after his encounter with the Dementors on the Hogwarts Express four years ago, he didn't want anyone putting horrible pictures in his mind.

Charlus's expression was the most peculiar, which didn't go unnoticed by Dumbledore who was happy to see that the expression on the boy's face was that of conviction. So he tried to motivate the boy further, so that he would be prepared for the coming dangers.

"Charlus, as you might have deduced by now, there is going to be something big happening this year at Hogwarts; and if I am to guess, Voldemort wants you in it. Now, I want you to listen carefully, all of you." At that he looked around the table at the occupants of the room to make sure that everybody was listening.

After making sure that everybody was paying attention, he continued, "There is going to be a tournament this year at Hogwarts, which will involve four schools, Hogwarts, of course, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Salem. Now the tournament was proposed by European members of the ICW, myself included, in an effort to modernize our education systems with the help of our Colonial counter-parts, as we read every day how much progress they are making in finding new ways of using magic.

"The tournament is still unnamed, but that is of no concern. What really is important is that Voldemort knows about this tournament; because all the members of the faculty were already notified that they had to return early from their holidays to make the castle presentable for the visitors. And if we are to believe Charlus's vision, we can assume that Voldemort had extracted that little detail from poor Charity before she killed herself to prevent from being abused against the light.

"Now, here comes the tricky part; Lily", as he said her name both of them looked at each other in the eyes, as they were sitting side-by-side, and after looking for a couple of moments in Lily's emerald green eyes, the Headmaster said very cautiously, without breaking eye contact, "I want Charlus to compete in this tournament Lily; please first listen to my reasons, please Lily."

Lily was torn because she knew whatever reason Albus had, it was for everyone's safety; but on the other hand, she didn't want Charlus to walk into Voldemort's trap, when she could stop it from happening.

In the end, she decided to go with the right path, instead of the easy one.

'After all, I didn't teach my children that lesson to forget it myself when I had the opportunity to set an example', Lily thought, grudgingly.

So Lily, in answer to Albus's question, simply nodded her head. That was all Albus needed as he continued, still addressing Lily, "I am asking that because we can't let anyone else walk into whatever Voldemort has designed for Charlus. This way, we could at least be sure that no innocent will be caught in the crossfire."

Then he diverted his attention to Charlus and asked, "Do you agree with this idea, Charlus?"

Charlus, too, simply nodded in answer.

The hard part now out of the way, Albus relaxed a bit and said, "The rules have not yet been designed for the tournament, but it is clear that there will be four challenges in tribute of the four participants, which will all be the best that their school has to offer. The challenges, themselves, will be dangerous but not mortally, I can give you my word on that.

"So start training for the coming hardships, Charlus, as I have no doubt that you are the best that Hogwarts has to offer and will do your best at whatever fate will throw at you, as you always have; and do not worry about you being alone in this, as you will find all your friends and family at your side when you'll need them. I can only say sorry for thrusting such a heavy burden on your shoulders.

"But there is one more thing", at this he looked directly at Severus and after a moment received the answer he was waiting for; then looking back at Charlus, said, "You will need to learn to shield your mind from any future attempts of entering it. Severus will teach you how to apply Occlumency to your mind, if you are willing?"

Albus said the last part as a suggestion because he really didn't like putting this boy, who had only today entered his adulthood, through so many hardships for other people's safety. He just wished for Charlus to have some more help.

So keeping that little agenda in his mind, he turned to Lily and said, "Lily, as you are aware, I have the position of the Muggle Studies Professor vacant; and I really think you are the most suitable candidate for the job, as that will keep you close to all of your children and you could provide Charlus with the much needed moral support."

Lily was dumbfounded for a moment, as the Headmaster offered her with a teaching post, for a subject she didn't even pursue till her sixth year. But as her mind started processing, she could see the benefits if she accepted the offer.

For one, she could stay close to all of her children for a whole year, something she hadn't had the opportunity to since Charlus started at Hogwarts.

The second reason was that she could keep an eye out for whoever that would be trying to hurt her baby. So it was kind of a no-brainer for Lily.

"Alright, Headmaster. I accept your offer."

Albus was delighted to hear that Lily would be joining the teaching staff. It would really boast Charlus's morale.

So after a few minutes of discussing some smaller details with Lily about her new job, Albus took his leave, with Severus on his heels, after he said his goodbyes and told Charlus to be ready tomorrow evening for their first lesson.

After they were gone, Lily rose from her chair and hugged her son tightly and held on to him for a few moments before letting go of him. She then turned to her husband, who was by her side the moment he saw her looking for him, and held her in a one-arm hug to give her some semblance of comfort after whatever that had conspired in the last half an hour.

A little while later, Lily advised everyone to go to their respective rooms and have some rest as they were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning for the school shopping, as they always did, every year.

So after saying goodnights, everyone went to their rooms to have some sleep, although they knew it was hard to come, with whatever they had just witnessed.


	7. Ain't Doin Too Bad

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and Universe belongs to J. K. Rowling and her associates. **

**A. N. 1: For those who think Lily's character and actions are unbelievable, it is part of the storyline; please bear with me. Also, those who want to know about the night of Halloween '81, you will also have to wait as it is part of the storyline. It will all be revealed as the story will proceed. Though, I can tell you that Charlus is a horcrux.**

**A. N. 2: From here on, you will get to know why I rated this story as M. **

**A. N. 3: Happy Holidays everybody out there, and in case I didn't post on the 31st, Happy New Year. **

**Chapter VII- Ain't Doin Too Bad **

**1st September, 1997**

Emi Kamikaze was at the time sitting in her usual seat on their table in the cafeteria of Salem Institute of Magic with one of her best friends, Ray Johnson, who was at the moment flexing his well-developed biceps for the entertainment of the girls sitting at the surrounding tables. Seriously, the guy was full of himself. Even she, his best friend could see that and admit it. Lord knows why the other girls put up with his childish behaviour. Of course, there was the fact that his body was too good for any girl in the school.

But still, David had a great body as well, but girls never dropped everything they were doing to ogle at him. Or, maybe they did and then got bored when David didn't acknowledge their efforts. After all, a girl never compromises with her self-esteem. Come to think of it, David never dated a girl who was his body's fan. He almost always took some unpopular girl to prom whom nobody ever paid attention to. When she had asked him why he had come with the girl he had at their first ever prom night, he had told her 'It's always the quiet ones, don't you know?' with his usual Devil-may-care voice.

At first, she thought he was making fun of her as _she _was the quiet one of their group. But as the time passed, Emi realized that David always dated the girls who really wanted to hear his words, unlike some other girls who wanted nothing more than to drag him in an isolated corner. He _was _always the most mature of the four of them.

As she thought of her third best friend, her lips quirked up into a small smile. Linda had always been the one who understood Emi the most, except for Emi's parents. Just like Emi understood Linda. They always knew what was going on in each other's mind; like when Linda found out the reason behind Emi not accepting anybody's request to go to the prom with was her thinking her parents would not like it; and then forcing Ray to go with her, as David had already asked someone.

At that moment, the subjects of Emi's thoughts sat down opposite her chair with an identical expression of irritation on their faces. She knew just the reason behind that. As one of the best looking people in the school, with David's aristocratic looks and Linda being your usual blonde goddess, they were always ogled at by the opposite sex, sometimes by even the same sex.

Although, it wasn't that what must have set them off, as David never paid much attention to others around him, except for his friends, but he always got angry, to Linda's amusement, when people stared at Linda as if she was a piece of meat. Linda, too, must be angry to see all the _bitches _eyeing David as if there were no clothes on his back.

Fortunately, Linda didn't know that Emi was very much aware of Linda's not so forgotten crush on David. Although, both of them knew that David would never be interested in Linda. For one, he considered both of them his sisters and Ray as his brother; and the second reason was that David was not interested in physical relationships yet. So Linda knew David won't be interested in her, as even Linda would admit it that her attraction to David was nothing but physical; however, that didn't mean she wouldn't be disappointed about it.

"Why can't the two of you get used to it and start enjoying it?"

The question came from the big mouth of Ray, although Linda was glaring at him even before he reached _'the two of you'_. It was always these words or something along the lines that had been greeting them since the first day of their fourth year. Ray was about to continue but Emi interrupted him, saving him along the way as even David was looking a bit pissed off by Ray's words; after all, nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of David's wand.

"Do you guys know about the announcement?" Emi asked offhandedly, trying to calm the situation.

It was Linda who answered, in an irritated voice, "Yeah, we do. Can't think of anything though that must have had happened on the first day of school to force them to make us all seventh years sit in the Headmistress's office. Must be something important."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I think it's something big. What do you think, David?" Emi asked him as she could see that he was still looking a bit off. It made her wonder what had actually happened with her two friends, as she could see that it wasn't the usual fanfare and lust filled eyes that had made them both look so angry. Her suspicions were confirmed when David spoke.

"Yeah, I don't know about that; but I think that if I have to sit with that shit-head Bellamy in the same room ever again, I might just kill him."

All at once, both Emi and Ray were sitting straight backed on their chairs with a fierce expression on their faces.

Samuel Bellamy, a fellow seventh year and now the head boy. He _thought _he was David's nemesis, keyword being thought; as the whole school knew that Samuel wasn't even close to where David was, in terms of both knowledge and talent. Hell, the only reason why Samuel was the Head boy was because David had rejected the offer of being one as he didn't want to deal with the extra baggage that came with the badge.

Now, however, after seeing the piss poor choice the management had made, David was actually regretting declining the offer.

"What did that fucker do?"

It was the testament of her own anger that Emi didn't say anything about Ray's foul language. She knew very well that Samuel was attracted to Linda the same way Linda was attracted to David, so it was not hard for her to guess that whatever Samuel had done or said had to be related to Linda. David, again, confirmed her suspicions, although this time even his tongue turned a little foul.

"That crazy fuck", though David whispered the words, they were so furious and clear that almost everybody in the cafeteria who was not talking must have heard him, "must have thought that now that he is the _Head boy, _he is entitled to have any girl in the school. So after the bell rings, the moron intercepts us on our way here, grabs Lin's hand and tries to drag her, all the while saying... saying"

Emi never thought that she would see the day when David would be struggling for words. But that also meant that whatever Samuel had said must be really bad. Finally, they heard what Samuel had said and it was a good thing that he was not in the cafeteria yet, otherwise he would have been attacked by Ray's wand; and even if Ray hadn't done anything, Samuel would still have found himself being a victim of a well-aimed _whammy_ that Emi had crafted herself.

_'How dare he?'_ Emi thought furiously when she heard Linda say what Samuel, no, what that _bastard _had said to her.

"All the while saying how I should quit serving two cocks at the same time." Linda said this as if she was giving a seminar about some filthy creatures, and continued as if she didn't notice the furious reactions to her words, "He even had the audacity to call Ray the N-word! As if his father is a British Lord or something. _Moron!" _

Ray was halfway through rising from his chair after hearing about Samuel's racist comment when they heard David chuckling noiselessly. Ray was about to ask him what the hell he found funny in all this when David answered his unspoken question.

"You should have heard him scream when Lin's knee connected with his main part."

That was all he could manage before he let out a full blown bark and started laughing loudly, which was unusual for David as he was always calm and collected. So after recovering from the shock of seeing David losing his calm, everybody on the table joined him and started laughing loudly. Halfway through their lunch, a majestic bird the size of a pigeon came out of thin air and settled itself on David's shoulder.

It was long-beaked with small, round brown eyes. The beauty of the eyes was even more intensified by the black feathers that surrounded them in such a way that they looked like someone had applied mascara around the eyes to make them look winged. It had white feathers all over his body, except for his wings and tail, which were coal black with blue on the tips of the wings, as well as its neck, which had blue feathers on it in such a way that it looked like someone had used a colour spray on it. It had light blue feathers just above its larger than normal talons. Even though the bird was not very large in size, it still had wings of the size which you would find only in the birds of prey, like an eagle.

"He always looks as beautiful as ever, doesn't he David?" It was Emi who had spoken. But before David could say something in reply, his best friend interrupted him.

"I can't believe he is still with you after you giving him such a small name, Principe!"

Like before, just when he was about to give Ray a reply that definitely would have made Ray lunge for David's neck, Linda spoke.

"I, for one, can't believe that Dave is bonded to a halcyon, even after all these years."

Now Dave was really irritated. _'I mean, why ask when you don't want me to answer!' _It was Emi who spotted David pouting in irritation and decided to make some more fun of him.

"Why aren't you saying anything, David?" She asked if innocently, further intensifying his pout, and after noticing his other two friends smirking at him David decided to make them pay for their cheek. So he stood up, making them think that they had crossed the line and said, first to Emi, and then to Ray and finally Linda, answering their condescending questions in the process.

"I, also, think that he looks more beautiful every time I see him... I've already told you the meaning of his name so I won't repeat myself. As for why he is still with me, I can only guess that Fede really likes the name I had given him as it suits his personality perfectly... You are not the only one Lin as I myself think that I must've done something really good in my previous lives to be in the company of such a majestic entity."

With that David turned on his heels and got out of the room before anyone could say a single word; his familiar, Fede, still perched on his shoulder. Now, normally, his friends would have caught his bluff if it hadn't been for his heated voice, which made them believe that he was actually angry at them and thus, forcing them to fall victim to his sneaky trick.

Just as they were running to catch up with their angry, or so they believed, friend, Ray shouted while running, "If this is one of those tricks of him, I'm gonna kill that brat." His two companions not saying anything but agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

**Three hours later **

David was sitting in the Headmistress's office with his three best friends, as they were instructed to. As he sat on the chair, he thought about what Lin had said in the cafeteria, about her not believing his bonding with Fede. His mind, while thinking about it, momentarily went to the memories of what had happened when they finally caught up with him after his abrupt, and deliberate, departure from the cafeteria. Among all the scolding from Emi, profanities from Ray and threats of making him impotent that he received from Lin for pranking them like that, he had forgotten about Fede and his abrupt entry into David's life.

It was the summer before his fourth year and he had been in Rome on vacation with his Mom, now official as until this summer he used to address Eve as Mom only when she wasn't in the same room, that he had met Fede for the first time. Rome was one of David's favourite places in the world and he visited the majestic city at least once a year. However, it wasn't the city's heritage that attracted David so much. It was the fact that the city never failed to provide an answer to any of David's questions, big or small, when he was visiting the city.

It was in Rome that David had come face to face with the fact that there was a place somewhere in the world where his _true _mother was waiting for him. It was in Rome that he had acquired his faithful wand, whose core he still didn't know; and it was in Rome that he had met his halcyon familiar.

He had returned to their suite with his Mom after having dinner at his favourite restaurant. Just as he was about to close his eyes in exhaustion as he sat in an armchair, he heard a whoosh of wind and then saw a small bird, which resembled to a Kingfisher, perched on his armrest.

He was about to call Eve as whatever this creature was, it was magical, when he felt something inside his mind flutter in happiness as if it recognized this bird. When Eve entered the room he was in, she did nothing but stare at the majestic bird for a few minutes; and then she explained to him what she thought the bird was and why it was there with them.

After hearing what it was and the reason it was there and the reason behind David's mind reacting to its presence, he stared at the halcyon in wonder thinking furiously about the possible reasons it must have bonded with him. Eve, in an attempt to calm David down, gave him a short summary on the halcyons. To say that David was astonished by the things Eve told him about the bird that was sitting on his shoulder at the moment would be a monumental understatement.

_'... bonds with their previous master's rightful descendants... controls the elements of water and wind... has the power to calm the people around him...'_

It astonished him to this day how enigmatic his familiar was. For example, he had to wait until that year's winter solstice to find out whether his familiar was male or female; as if it had been a female, it would have been absent for the whole solstice, nesting above the oceans all that time. But as it was a male, he was absent for only a few days.

"I bet that old man would be laughing his ass off if he ever found out that our Research Section had failed for the thirteenth time in a row in our attempts in replicating his Deluminator. I bet the reason behind our failure is that the device holds more secrets than it reveals, just like its creator."

It was Linda's this statement that brought David back to reality. If he hadn't been preoccupied in his thoughts, he would have concurred with his friend's guess. Come to think of it, why would a celebrated wizard like Dumbledore would waste his time in inventing a thing which did nothing more than put out muggle lights? And more importantly, why would the said device have such a complicated arthimatic formula that can't be utilized to manipulate any artefact, magical or muggle.

David was just going to voice his thoughts about Linda's comment when that disgusting pig of a Head boy entered the office and settled himself as far away from the quartet as he could, his head bowed.

But before anybody, Ray in general, could do anything, Kathleen Grey, the Headmistress of Salem Institute of Magic, entered the office and settled herself behind her desk, with all the teachers that were present standing behind her.

The Headmistress was an elderly woman with hazel eyes that were full of knowledge and a face that despite being withered by old age, held a certain glow that can only come from power and experience. It was then that David realized that she was saying something, so he willed his mind to listen to her words.

"... that I've asked for your presence here is that there is going to be a tournament which is going to take place in Scotland, at Hogwarts. The main reason for the organization of this tournament is to improve the educational system in the European magical schools; that is why each participating school will bring at least four teachers with them, including the Head of the respective Institute as the judge panel will consist of all the four of them with the head of British Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation's head acting as the fifth judge in the panel."

After this, she stopped talking to take a breath and let this information sink in. Then someone spoke, and she had a very good idea who it was.

"How many will compete from one school and how will they be selected?"

It was, of course, Mr Principe who had asked the vital question. She addressed the whole room while answering the question, regardless.

"Only one student will compete in the tournament to represent their school and _we, _that is me and the teachers accompanying me to Hogwarts, will choose one of you to be that student. Why only one of you and not the whole school? That is because it is one of the rules of the tournament that only the seventh years are allowed to compete.

"But we are to make that decision after we, that is everyone in this office, travel to Hogwarts; everyone except for Deputy Headmaster Greene, who will remain here to take care of the school affairs while me and the professors accompanying us are at Hogwarts."

"But that means we'll never see our school again!" The panicked whisper came from the only Japanese witch attending the school, Emi Kamikaze. The bright young witch was always with her three best friends and part of a very talented and brilliant group of people, which ironically consisted of only her and her three best friends. So it was natural for a witch like Ms Kamikaze to get detached from her other peers and get really unpopular with everyone except for her friends.

However, the young witch's statement delivered the message it was meant to, regardless of her popularity; every student in her office started talking among themselves about these being their last days at the school. Thus, to settle the students down and finish her remaining instructions, she started talking, "You don't need to worry about these being your last days at Salem, as we will return from Scotland somewhere in late May so that you can take your final exams; and before you ask it Mr Johnson, yes, the student competing in the tournament will be exempt from the final exams. But", she added when she saw the aforementioned boy getting overjoyed to hear about the news she had given him, "You have to complete and submit all the assignments and will be exempted from them only if you are competing _and _are hospitalized."

Kathleen had to crack a smile after seeing not only Mr Johnson, but almost every student, including and especially Mr Bellamy who was the Head boy this year, getting visibly disappointed. The only students who were not showing any emotions were the remaining part of the aforementioned group that Ms Kamikaze was a part of and a few other students who took their academics seriously.

Just as she was about to dismiss them, someone asked a question that actually made her angry.

"What if the accompanying students don't agree with the professors' choice of the student competing?"

If it hadn't been for Mr Principe's rejection, the student, who had asked such an insulting question, wouldn't have been wearing the badge he was and insulting his professors at the same time. She wasn't even going to offer that badge to any seventh year student this year, in the first place, but her colleagues convinced her that it would highlight the student's resume, no matter how long he held the badge. It was a good thing that her questioner had to hand over the badge to her Deputy before leaving for Hogwarts. It would undo the mistake one of her staff had made by appointing Mr Bellamy as the Head boy, when Kathleen had received the badge that Mr Principe had returned.

But for the sake of keeping up appearances, she quenched her anger a bit and answered Mr Bellamy's question, albeit a little sternly.

"That should not be your concern Mr Bellamy, as we would only choose the best student to represent our school. But ", seeing that more than one student was about to question their professors' judgement, the Headmistress made a decision right then and there," If anybody thought that the chosen student wasn't capable, they are allowed to appeal the decision, _reasonably, _at the time of the announcement."

Kathleen was disappointed to see some students nodding firmly while looking at one person in particular, who, at the moment, had eyes for no one but his friends. She was, at the same time, proud of her fellow colleagues, as even though she had made a decision and announced it without counselling with them, they didn't give any indication of that fact.

As she was, again, about to dismiss them, one of them spoke up. But his question made her smile in response, unlike the boy who had asked her a question before this one.

"That's all good and well. But what is the name of this so-called tournament?"

This time, however, instead of addressing the whole room, her eyes sought the ones of her questioner and answered him, that smile still present on her lips.

"It is called the Tournament of Concordia, Mr Principe."

In return, the cheeky young man snorted and said, "I'll believe it when I'll see it."

She doubted anyone among the students except for Mr Principe's friends understood what he said. Kathleen, however, completely agreed with Mr Principe's statement.

After exiting the Headmistress's office when she dismissed them all with a last instruction of checking the noticeboard in order to find out when they would be leaving, the four friends started their journey to their house building; as Salem runs on the residential college system, which comprises of seven different residential colleges that function as the primary housing, dining and social organization for all students.

David had lived in his formidable house building for only his first year, where he met his three best friends and one arrogant git called Samuel Bellamy. Although, it wasn't in his first year that Bellamy started antagonizing David, it started the day David was allowed to move out of the house building and start living in an apartment in the Salem Village his Mom had bought him.

Samuel must have thought it was blatant favouritism, while it was, in fact, arranged so that David could live with his Mom in that apartment as his _dreams _had gotten worse since he left his Mom and the chateau. But both mother and son deduced that it was because of them living apart that had triggered the dream to get intensified.

They reached this particular deduction when David returned to France in the Christmas holidays and his dreams all but vanished from his sleep and only returned on the night of New Year's Eve as was its custom. Nobody knew this except for David's best friends and the Headmistress, who had allowed this to happen. That was why many had accused the Headmistress of favouritism and vilified David and his friends in retaliation.

Right now, David was going in the direction of his house building to give his friends some company and to check out the noticeboard in the building to see when they would be leaving.

"So, Dave, what do you think about all this?" Linda asked the question, although it was Ray who answered her instead of Dave.

"Well, I think it's bloody fantastic. I've always wanted to go to Hogwarts. I mean the place is as old as magic itself. Add in the little fact about so many British girls with accent to that fact and it's simply irresistible. Mmmm... "

At his last comment, both girls shook their heads at Ray, rolling their eyes at the same time. David, however, didn't show any reaction; a testament that he was in complete agreement with his best friend. David thought he had been discreet but his lack of reaction was more than enough.

"Not you too, Dave! Don't you guys think of anything else?" It was, of course, Linda who said this. But that was not all.

"And here I thought David was the sophisticated one", the mocking comment came from Emi, who can be as sarcastic and sneaky at the same time as David can.

To add in his own two cents in the attempt of actually embarrassing his best mate, Ray said, "Yeah, and people keep calling me an insensitive moron, when in reality it's him. Have you noticed how he corrupts even the most silent and boring ones and turn them into hot chicks?"

At the last sentence, even David's jaw dropped on the ground they were walking on. Seeing his friends' reactions to his words, Ray said, in a somewhat defensive tone, "What? It's the truth! Have any of you seen Debby today, I bet her legs will give Linda a run for her money."

Those words brought even more attention on David's head as it was the truth. David was dating Debby, a year below them, for the good part of three months last school year but broke it up at the end of the school year. But last year, she was just another goody-goody girl next door; now, however, it was as though she had gone into a complete physical transformation. From goody two shoes to a smoking hot chick in just about three months. Makes you wonder...

In an attempt to get the spotlight away from him, David started, "I'm actually excited about meeting Hogwarts' _Defence against the Dark Arts _Professor. I've heard that he is a werewolf."

That was all that was needed for his friends to forget about his exes and start asking questions about how he knew the Professor was a werewolf to what the subject the said werewolf taught covered.

It was an hour later that David found himself on the doorstep of the apartment, that acted as a temporary replacement for their Chateau as both David and Eve lived there while David attended the school, about to ring the doorbell, when, like always, the door was opened by his Mom. He still couldn't figure out how she did it, even after all these years. There were no Runes on the doorstep, no tracking charms on him or his clothes or shoes; he knew that it wasn't Fede, who loved pulling pranks on him, then how?

However, it wasn't the time for that, so he pulled himself together, crossed the threshold and let his Mom kiss his cheeks, and felt the colour in his face rising in the process. He knew he shouldn't feel embarrassed about it; however, getting kissed by a girl he barely knew was one thing, but getting kissed by his Mom always made his mind flutter in happiness, just like it did when Fede appeared out of thin air and perched himself on his shoulder.

It was a good thing that she did what she did, as it calmed his nerves, which had flared when the prospect, of telling her that he would have to break one of the promises he had made her, had entered his mind.

Eve sensed that her son was in a somewhat quandary, so she commanded him to take a seat in the living room while she fixed him something to eat. When she entered the living room with some cheese sandwiches for her son, she saw that her son was still anxious.

She, of course, knew the reason behind his anxiety and she knew she could put him at ease by telling him that she knew about the tournament. But the opportunity to see her son squirm was too good to pass.

Finally, after two minutes of awkward silence, with Dave, all the while, opening and closing his mouth without uttering a word, Eve had had enough fun. So she sat straight backed in her chair, in mock seriousness to make Dave squirm a little more, and said, "Dave, will you please quit it." At his bewildered expression, she rolled her eyes and said, "Relax Dave, I already know what you want to tell me and I don't mind."

If David was bewildered before, now his mind had completely stopped processing.

'Mom knew! Then why didn't she tell me before?'

As that thought was processing through her son's mind, Eve noticed a frown of displeasure appearing on his face. So in order to placate his anger, that was directed at her for keeping a secret from him, she said, "Dave, I had to do it as it was an express order from the ICW to hide the information from the students", seeing that his displeasure had turned into confusion at the mention of The Confederation's involvement in the tournament business, Eve continued, "Yes Dave, the tournament is organized by the ICW and it was them that had owled me, and every parent whose children were going to be seventh years, to inform me of this development and for my permission, though unnecessary, to let you accompany your peers, which I gave. That means I don't mind you going to Hogwarts. So stop worrying, son."

For a few moments, Dave did nothing but stare at Eve as if she was still talking, but then he shook his head and his body visibly relaxed. Then he said something that made his Mom squirm, unintentionally taking revenge on her.

"At some point in time, you have to tell me what is so important about Hogwarts that you had to make me promise that I won't go there at all. If I didn't know better, I would've thought that my true mother was there and you were keeping me from going to Hogwarts because you know it."

Even though Dave's voice was casual, he meant what he said; and Eve figured that there was no point in hiding it from her son further. So she took a deep breath and started.

"I want you to listen carefully and patiently Dave." She saw her son narrowing her eyes a little but nodded after a moment, regardless. So she continued, cautiously, "What you said is the truth. But", she added hastily when she saw his narrowed eyes widen in shock, "I had to do it. I had to lie to you that I didn't know your mother and keep you away from her; because if you had met her before the right time, it would have caused you immense pain."

While Eve was speaking, Dave's expression changed from shocked to accusing to confusion. She couldn't blame him; of course it was all confusing. But she decided to tell him as much as she could, as long as she didn't give him any names.

"I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. When your mother decided to give you away, she wanted to give you a potion that would have erased every memory your mind contained of your family as she thought the danger you were in would always be there. But her friend, the person who left you in my care, thought otherwise and altered the potion so that instead of erasing your memories it would suppress them until your mother _knowingly_ acknowledged you as her son. But it had to be your mother and she had to do it willingly, otherwise you would feel more pain than necessary while your memories were returning to your mind's forefront and I didn't want to risk your life."

Eve's last few sentences came out accompanied by sobs as she thought that now Dave would leave her for what she had done. Her son, on the other hand, had a myriad of emotions in his mind. He was, of course, angry at Eve for keeping this from him. But he was also confused at what his Mom had just said.

_'But it had to be your mother...' _

'Of course!' he thought. How could he be so stupid to believe that it was only his mother who was alive out of his true family? There could be a father, an uncle, a brother, a sister or all four of them and more. For a moment, he was torn between feeling ecstatic and worried; ecstatic at the possibility of having such a huge family and worried by the thought of whether they would accept him or not.

But he stopped this train of thought when he saw that his Mom was still crying while looking wistfully at him with tearful eyes. So he rose up from his chair and sat on his Mom's lap after transforming into his nine year old body, his _true _nine year oldbody. He hugged her tightly until she stopped crying and gave out a little giggle at what her son had done to calm her down.

When he was sure that his mother had calmed down from the ordeal, he asked her the question he so wanted answered.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

He noticed his mother stiffen a little under him but nod in reply, regardless. So he asked her, "Is my mother the only one alive among my _real _relatives? Or…?"

He left the question hanging in the air as he felt his Mom stiffen once again. After a few moments of silence, David thought that he would not get an answer from his Mom; but just when he was going to say something along the lines of 'It was not important', his Mom gave a small nod with her head bowed.

David, as happy as he was about knowing that there was more than just his _real_ mother who were alive, hugged his mother a little tighter to calm her as she had started to tear up again. When that didn't work, he decided to use his usual approach.

"You know Mom, this is going to be really hard for me without you there with me…." He again let his sentence hang in the air, but didn't stop like the last time.

Eve felt a bit better when she thought her son was about to say tell her that he would miss her. But what he actually said overwhelmed her, but with anger instead of happiness.

"What with those _nightmares_ I get without you around", he finished, smirking.

"David", Eve pronouncing his full name was indication enough that Dave's attempt of easing his mother out of her stance by making her angry had worked. Although, she wasn't finished speaking, in a dangerously low voice at that, "Iam not your Headmistress, who doesn't keep her eyes open and her ears strained. Otherwise, she would have figured out that that Kingfisher you keep perched on your damn shoulder has destroyed your sole reason for living in this apartment instead of that _House_ of yours."

Unable to keep his laughter in control, David hopped from his Mom's lap and bolted from the room, laughing his ass off while he was at it.

Eve, getting angrier when she heard her son laughing loudly after pranking her his usual way, chased her metamorphmagus son who was still in his nine year old body, screaming bloody murder.

In her anger, she completely forgot their earlier conversation and the predicament she was in; it was to get her out of that predicament that Dave had angered her deliberately; a plan that had worked flawlessly, if Eve's screams of killing her son were any indication.


	8. Hogwarts

** Chapter VIII- Hogwarts**

**7****th**** September, 1997**

Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table, sandwiched between Ron and Charlus. It was dinner time and she, like everyone else, was waiting for the arrival of the congregation from Salem. They were going to come to Hogwarts the traditional way, which was by taking the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross.

It seemed unusual for the most innovative and celebrated magical school to not show off their heritage the way the other two visiting schools had done. She was excited this morning at the prospect of meeting new wizards and witches; and was _naive_ enough to think that some of them would be interested in being friends with her so that they could share what they learn at their respective schools with each other, for what this tournament was actually organised. But the more foreign students she met, the more firm her suspicion got; the suspicion that this was going to be a tough year at Hogwarts, what with so many Malfoys around.

However, she still hoped that the one school that was going to be more educated, in terms of modernized branches of magic, would not be as bigoted as the other two visiting schools. Her hope was solidified by the fact that Salem was not a European school, as Europe was the place where blood purity and bigotry was on _full throttle_; of course, she would know the _muggle_ expression. That was the reason why she was waiting for the students and teachers from Salem to arrive.

For a moment, she thought she was waiting for the first years to arrive on the 1st of September so that they could be sorted. They were not allowed to eat until the people from Salem arrived, so it was not that hard for most of the Hogwarts students to think the same thing, except for the fact that the said _first years_ were sitting with them in the Great Hall.

The foreigners, on the other hand, were irritated as they had to wait for the food like everyone else as well, something they were not used to.

Hermione suspected that maybe that was the whole point of them arriving the way they were. Maybe they wanted to annoy everyone and make a statement at the same time. It sounded appropriate to the school which had a tradition that its seventh year students are required to pull a huge prank on the whole school on their last day at the school.

She had, of course, read everything she could find about the aforementioned school; although, there were certain things that she couldn't figure out on her own which could only be clarified by a Salem student or teacher. That was more than enough, however, to make Hermione anticipate the arrival of the Americans. She would have read about the other two foreign schools as well, if there was any reading material available about them.

Just then, Ron said something which made her come out of her thoughts.

"How long do we have to wait for them? I haven't eaten since lunchtime, you know?"

It was natural for Ron to forget about everything happening around him and concentrate on his food, even in this crisis that they had dubbed as the Tournament of Concordia.

She would have swatted her redhead best friend's arm had it not been for her other best friend to speak up before she had the time to react.

"Yeah, I think so too. I mean, even the first years don't take this long and they come with Hagrid!"

Hermione had to agree that Charlus was right, after all. There had to be something wrong with the Express because the School Carriages were never late when it came to transporting students from Hogsmeade Station to Hogwarts.

Just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened and an old woman walked in, who Hermione believed was the Headmistress of Salem, flanked by two men and a woman, who were probably in their thirties and hence, must be teachers. They were all walking behind Hagrid, who must have escorted them to the Great Hall. There was something in the expression Hagrid was sporting that sent a chill down Hermione's spine; a feeling that was shared by her two best friends, who had also noticed the same thing and had suffered every time they had seen that expression on Hagrid's face since their first year at Hogwarts.

The peculiar thing about the new arrivals, Hermione noted, was that all four of them were wearing casual muggle clothes, like long flowing gowns and black suits with white shirts, as if they were told to dress for a muggle party.

It was at that point that Hermione noticed that there were some teenagers walking behind the four strangers, who were also clothed in muggle attire; except for one, who was wearing a black cloak and looking at everything down his nose. Her senses told Hermione that she should steer clear of this guy.

Many of the newcomers, teachers and students alike, were looking around the Great Hall with awed expressions on their faces. That made Hermione smile; it always amazed her how the Great Hall, and Hogwarts in general, never failed to captivate the attention of the people who were laying their eyes on it for the first time.

That was when Dumbledore stood up from his chair at the centre of the elongated staff table and started welcoming the newcomers. She would have paid attention to his speech if it hadn't been for a group of Salem students. There was nothing different about them, except for the fact that one of them was soaking wet and looked as though he had just had a swim in the Black Lake. He was sandwiched between two girls and there was a boy standing behind him.

She wouldn't have paid much attention to the black boy standing behind the wet boy, except for a fact that he was snickering once in a while; and whenever he chuckled, the wet boy would turn back to glower at the chuckling boy. So she suspected that all four of them were friends and it was the black boy who had pulled a prank on his wet friend.

All this time, Hermione had paid little attention to the faces of the subject of her fascination. But now that she did, she was completely sure that all four of them were great friends, given how they were looking comfortable around one another. The girls were both beautiful and were dressed smartly. She noticed that the one standing on the left of the wet boy was blonde and prettier than her female friend. She was looking around the Hall with the same awed look her peers were sporting.

Then there was the other girl, who Hermione suspected was either Chinese or Japanese. She had black hair like her two male friends and a face that immediately told you that she could be one of your greatest friends. Then Hermione's eyes flickered to their chuckling friend, who she could see was of African-American origin. He had muscular build, the one that would have been intimidating if it hadn't been for the smile on his angular face that hadn't faded since Hermione had set eyes on the group.

Then there was the wet boy. He had long black hair, that at the moment were sticking to his beautiful heart-shaped face. He had a body similar to his friend, except his was a bit wiry, unlike his friend's bulky muscled one. His eyes were striking blue, very much like his blonde friend, if not a bit colder.

That was when Hermione noticed that he was the only one in the group whose eyes were not taking in the grandeur of the Great Hall. But instead, they were trained at the still speaking Headmaster with such fierce concentration that one would think that he was trying to solve a hard puzzle; although, her assessment of the Headmaster being a hard puzzle was not far from the truth.

'_But why was the stranger looking at Dumbledore with such a resolve in his eyes?'_ She thought to herself.

This thought was just passing through her mind when out of nowhere a bird, that she strongly suspected was a Kingfisher, appeared in front of the four friends and floated in front of them with such a grace that Hermione didn't have anything to compare it to. The bird itself had such a beauty to it that, for a moment, Hermione did nothing more than stare at the bird in wonder. She didn't know it, but almost every pair of eyes in the Hall, even Dumbledore's, were fixed on the bird in wonder.

Then Hermione noticed that the soaked boy was giving the majestic bird a murderous glare. She couldn't understand why in the whole world he would do such a thing.

'_I mean, the bird is a beauty!'_ Hermione almost cooed in her mind.

But just like before, right when the thought was passing through Hermione's head, the bird chirped musically, which surprised Hermione; because she knew from her fascination of Kingfishers, that Woodland Kingfishers, what she suspected this bird to be, had a hard call which sounded like a nail on a chalkboard. But what surprised Hermione further was the reaction the wet boy had to that.

All of a sudden, he started chasing the beautiful bird, all the while screaming, "Come here, you stupid Kingfisher. Do you know how cold it was outside? Why did you splash water on me, you fool?"

For a moment, Hermione thought that the boy was really insane. How could that bird have soaked the boy in water? It was then that the old woman, who Hermione had suspected was the Headmistress of Salem, spoke up.

"Mr Principe, that would be enough. Settle down now."

Even though, the words were stern, Hermione noted that the woman's voice was filled with mirth. Then the words actually hit Hermione, and she stared at the wet boy with wide eyes.

'_This is David Principe!' _

That was the only thought that was on Hermione's mind. Across the Hall sitting on the Slytherin table, a boy was also staring at the wet boy in disbelief. He, also, could not believe that the person he and his sister in all but blood had been talking about almost all summer was screaming hysterically at a bird for making him wet!

The said boy, in the meantime, silently seethed for a few minutes while looking at the still chirping bird before tuning and continuting to stand between his three friends, who were also still chuckling not so silently.

"I believe we will have enough to learn from our guests while their stay here", even Dumbledore's beard twitched when he said that, "but for now, I think we are all very much hungry; so why don't we all get settled."

Dumbledore said the last sentence while spreading his arms wide as if inviting the American students to sit on the four House tables in the Great Hall but they didn't move from their spots. It was not until the older lady, that had spoken before, noded her head in the direction of her students. That prompted the standing students to sit on the offered seats.

But the strange thing that happened was that not all of them sat at any one table, like the other two foreign schools. Most of them sat at the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, given the fact that those two tables were far emptier than the other two; although, there were still some who sat at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables.

Hermione noticed that the student, who was the only one wearing a cloak amongst the Salem students, sat at the Slytherin table. She also noticed that he sat there deliberately and immediately started talking with a boy she knew, but didn't know his name. It was not long before the cloaked boy was shaking hands with one Draco Malfoy, who was sitting right across from him.

She also noticed that the wet boy, '_David'_ she reminded herself, and his friends seated themselves on the most isolated part of the Hall, which was the part of the Hufflepuff table closest to the doors. She was disappointed that they didn't sit on the Gryffindor table. For one she wanted to talk academics with David; and the bird that she was _so_ fascinated with, who was accused of soaking David with water, was perched upon the shoulders of the Japanese girl, who was petting it with delight.

'_And I can't do that!', _Hermione practically shouted in her mind.

After Dumbledore gave the order, which only Hogwarts staff and for some reason David understood, dinner was served; which was _grand_. It never had as much variety as it did that night.

If Hermione had to say something about the dinner in one sentence, she would say that not one student, no matter its nationality, would be unsatisfied by it; and it was a good thing that Ron was sitting beside her and she didn't have to see him eating, otherwise, she would have lost her appetite no matter the quality or variety of the food. But she couldn't blame Ron for that. Even she had the urge to forget about table manners and use her hands for the first time.

For a moment, Hermione thought about how much trouble the House-elves must have gone through to prepare such a wonderful dinner; but she remembered her talk with Mrs Potter, or now Professor Potter, about them a while ago and let it go.

After all the five tables were cleared of the food, Dumbledore stood up, smiling in his own enigmatic way.

"First of all, I would like to welcome all our guests and hope that you will all find your visit to Hogwarts a productive and educating one. That being said, I should let you all go to your respective dormitories so that you could have your rest for tomorrow's classes."

After these words, everyone stood up to leave; the Hogwarts students to their House dormitories, the Durmstrang students and teachers to their ship and the Beauxbatons students and teachers to their carriage. The only people still seating in their seats were all the Hogwarts staff, the Salem students and teachers and three Hogwarts students.

Emi could see that the Headmistress and Dumbledore were conversing with each other while she and her friends were seating in their seats. The Headmistress had told all of Emi's peers that this would happen. Emi didn't know where Professor Grey was going with this but she was sure that the Headmistress, for some reason, wanted living quarters for all of them in Hogwarts. Emi was not complaining, as she was fascinated by Hogwarts and would love to live in the confines of the castle.

That reminded her what had happened when she and her friends had sneaked away from the others when they had reached Hogsmeade Station to see the castle from the shore of the Black Lake. Just as all four of them were admiring their first sight of Hogwarts, a great wave of water rose from the lake and splashed David, _only _David, with ice-cold water. That was evidence enough that whatever had happened had something to do with David's familiar, who was still perched on her shoulder.

Emi, then, saw three students, three _Hogwarts_ students to be precise, coming their way. There were two boys who were being led by a girl with curly brown hair. Actually, it would be fair to say that she was _dragging_ the two boys, one of them had red hair and the other was be-spectacled and had black hair. Emi didn't know this but almost all the teachers sitting on the Staff table were also following the movements of the three students.

When Hermione was standing right behind the two boys she had noticed earlier, she smiled brightly at the two girls sitting right across from them. She had concluded that if she wanted to be friends with these guys, then the Japanese girl was her best chance. She, of course, didn't know any of them but that girl seemed friendlier to her. She knew that she shouldn't have dragged her two best friends into this but she needed their support.

When Hermione was sure that she had the attention of the two girls, she started to speak, "Hello, my name is Hermione Granger and these are my friends Charlus Potter and Ronald Weasley."

But before she could go any further, she was interrupted by the wet boy.

"I get Granger and Potter, but what does Weasley mean huh?"

Hermione was not sure what to say; it was hard to say whether he meant the words the bad way or not as he had asked the question without turning to face her and her friends. But before she could formulate a reply, her big-mouthed friend opened his mouth.

"What do you mean by that? Only Charlie's surname has a meaning. Granger doesn't have a meaning."

If she had been given the time to react, Hermione would have palmed her face at the sheer amount of stupidity her best friend was sporting in front of these people. But before she could do anything, the other boy of the group spoke up.

"Yeah, just like Principe doesn't have a meaning, right?"

Right after he said that, all his other three friends started laughing, which made Hermione believe that this was a private joke amongst the quartet; that was why this time she knew that whatever that was said was meant to be in a good way. It was, nonetheless, for the better, as it helped to reduce the tension between the two groups. Then the Japanese girl spoke up, confirming Hermione's theory of her being the friendliest of the group.

"Glad to meet you Hermione, Charlus, Ronald", she nodded her head respectfully to each of them as she said their names and continued, "My name is Emi Kamikaze. This is my best friend Linda Owens; and those two bozos over there", she pointed to the two boys sitting across from her, inciting an irritated response from both of them in the process, "Are Ray Johnson and David Principe."

Hermione was sure that Emi could be a really good friend of hers in the near future, and that thought made her smile brightly. But before she could say anything, the wet boy, David, stood up from his seat and turned to her and her friends. However, the moment she made contact with his icy blue eye, she knew she was a goner. It was as though he was looking into her soul, although she knew he was not using Legilimency on her. She could see that his eyes were still showing some of the annoyance from earlier. But that thought was somewhere deep within her mind. On the forefront of her mind was nothing but those electrifying blue eyes.

David was staring at the brown eyes of the girl standing in front of him. She was giving him the usual response he got from every other girl he met for the first time; and he was getting frustrated with it. Sometimes, he wondered if it was a mistake to make his features identical to his Mom when he was leaving for his first year at Salem. He just couldn't take every other girl staring open mouthed at him; and even all those girls that didn't do what this…..Hermione was doing at the moment, they started doing it after David started to date them.

Like what had happened to Debby; she had confessed to David on his last day at Salem that she had done whatever she had done to her body so that he would take her back. But Debby didn't know that it had all started, in the first place, because she had started to change herself to _suit_ him. He had broken up with her, _in the first place_, because she had started to turn into a fan-girl who loved his body, a body that he can change by sheer willpower.

It had always been like this. That was why he never dated any girl for longer than three months because that was as long as a girl could go without turning into what Debby had.

He sighed and tried to hide his disappointement and anger at the girl in front of him. He forced a smile on his face and said, "Come sit with us."

Charlus was curious about the people he was staring at. That was why he could understand Hermione's fetish to meet this group. He had read enough about this Principe fellow to be curious himself; and that bird was just something! He bet if Aries was allowed to remain in the Hall, even after Dumbledore telling them to leave, he would have been bouncing on his feet to ask for the soaked boy's autograph.

'_The way he talked about _the_ David Principe, you would think he was more of a brother to him than I!'_

But the way Hermione was acting in front of Principe, it was as though he had hypnotised her. Eyes wide, mouth hanging open and rooted to the spot she was standing on, it took Charlus to shake Hermione out of her trance when she didn't move to accept Principe's offer of sitting with them.

Emi watched the scene taking place in front of her with mild amusement. She had seen something like this happen every so often. But she had never seen David getting all worked up at occasions like these.

'_Maybe, he wanted to know this girl'_

Even the thought sounded to Emi like one of those sappy romantic novels that Linda read, and forced her to read sometimes as well. But there had to be something. So she added this to her mental list named 'Find Answers of'. There was time for that later, at the moment however, she needed to make conversation with these guys.

Sometimes, she thought that maybe Linda was right about telling her to stop in her attempts to make new friends. But she just couldn't!

"So how's it like, to live in here I mean?"

For a few seconds, none of the three answered Emi's question. Then after some time, a recovered Hermione said, "This castle is something like a second home for us. I can't believe we aren't retuning in the next fall. There are just so many memories that we are going to leave behind in these hallways."

Emi really liked this girl; she was so much like her. Hence, in order to know Hermione better, Emi asked another question.

"So Hermione, what courses are you taking here?"

There was nothing wrong about the question Emi asked but still Hermione's two friends started chuckling and Hermione started to glare at them darkly. Emi and her friends found this very peculiar as to why what courses Hermione took was one of the trio's inside jokes.

"What's so funny?" It was Linda who asked the question.

"Nothing's funny, it's just my friends, here, are being stupid", said Hermione, still glaring at her friends. "To answer your question, I am going to be taking my NEWTs in Transfiguration, Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions and Herbology. However, I wish I had kept Muggle Studies now that I know who is going to be teaching the subject, although that doesn't mean I had anything against the previous teacher of the subject. It's just that…I am fond of Professor Potter….."

Hermione would have gone on speaking like this if it hadn't been for David, who interrupted her.

"Potter? Isn't that your surname, Charlus?" He asked.

Charlus, for his part, was astonished that Hermione was talking so openly to these strangers and confused as to why this Principe guy being on first name basis with him did not annoy him.

'_Suppose we are all acting out of character tonight!'_

He hid his emotions quiet well, feeling grateful to Uncle Sev for teaching him Occlumecy, and said in a serious voice, "Hermione is talking about my mother"; then he pointed out his mother sitting between Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

David looked in the direction Charlus was pointing in and saw a beautiful redhead woman who was sitting between two men and chatting merrily with them while sneaking a glance in her son's direction, once in while.

David was going to ask Charlus something else but his best friend beat him there.

"Who's your mother talking with? They seem pretty comfortable with each other. Are they friends of hers?"

David was going to ask the same question, but a little tactfully and without sounding too personal. But just like with Hermione earlier, David was not given the time to palm his face at his best friend's insensitive nature, as Charlus answered Ray's question regardless.

"They are family friends. The black haired man sitting to my Mum's right is Professor Severus Snape, he is my mother's best friend, and the guy sitting on her left is Professor Remus Lupin, he is one of my father's best friends."

None of the four foreigners heard anything Charlus said after the name of the second person, as all the four of them snapped their necks in the direction of the said person with such speed that Charlus and his two best friends were sure that all four of the Salem students must have cracked their necks. It was Hermione who asked the question, from her seat on Emi's right.

"What's wrong? What…..?"

That was all that Hermione could manage, before the enigmatic bird, she was trying to get the attention of, rose into the air from his perch that was Emi's shoulder and made his way to the said professor.

Remus was as shocked as the rest of the Hall, the four foreigners included, when the colourful bird he had seen earlier perched on his shoulder, chirping happily. It took almost fifteen seconds for everyone to get out of their states of shock and continue doing what they were doing before the incident that had taken place mere seconds ago.

"I think there lays the proof you needed, Dave."

David, in reply, could do nothing more than nod his head in Linda's direction. He knew that if Fede approved of something like this then there was nothing for him to worry about. He didn't know this yet but the three Hogwarts students he was sitting with were not looking at Fede being petted by Charlus's mother; but at him and his three best friends, fidgeting nervously all the while.

It was not until Ron asked the question, a bit fearfully, that David and his friends looked at the trio and saw the anxiety etched on their faces.

"How…..? How do you know?"

Hermione was sweating bullets as she realized what the repercussions will be if this information was leaked out. She knew that Professor Lupin would not harm anyone intentionally, but she wouldn't blame if Emi and her friends thought otherwise; after all it was not every day that you made acquaintance with a friendly werewolf. She would have continued worrying herself sick if it hadn't been for David, whose words put her and both of her friends at ease instantly.

"Don't worry, none of us will tell anyone. We promise. It was just that I needed some reassurance that he would not hurt my friends or I while our stay here; and my familiar just gave it to me….."

David wanted to say more but he was interrupted by the girl with the chocolate brown eyes.

"Your familiar? But I thought it was Emi's. And what do you mean familiar? It's a Kingfisher, right? It is not a magical creature. So how could it be a familiar?"

David was astonished how Hermione had asked all four of her rapid fire questions in one breath. He had to admit that the girl was interesting; and not just because of her smart mouth or her beautiful eyes. Judging by the toughness of the European standard of education, he would say that these NEWTs had to be excruciating, and she had said that she was going to take _seven _of them. That was enough of a clue for David to conclude that the girl was brilliant.

'_If she had just not reacted the way she did, I would have asked her out sooner rather than later!'_

He had to shake his head several times to concentrate on the questions the girl had thrown at him. When he did, he turned his head in her direction and started answering each one of them.

"Yes, _he_ is my familiar; is it that hard to believe?" It was a rhetorical question, so he was going to continue speaking. But the girl interrupted him again; something no one had done before, and yet it didn't make him angry.

'_The girl sure is something.'_

"I didn't mean anything bad by it. It was just that it….I mean _he _was staying close to Emi, so I thought it was hers."

Here she took some time to breathe and calm herself when she saw that David wasn't angry at her for what she had said. Then she realized something.

"Wait. You said he is your familiar, then that means he is not a Kingfisher?" She waited for David's nod in reply and then continued, "Then what is he? I mean he looks like a Woodland Kingfisher, doesn't he?"

David was again stumped by the brown haired girl's intelligence. Even he didn't know what the hell a _Woodland Kingfisher_ was. He wanted to hide Fede's identity for as long as he could but it seemed as though he could trust this girl and her friends with this information, so he decided to tell them the truth, although warning them not to tell anyone of this, yet.

The clueless expressions that Charlus and Ron were sporting after David told them what Fede was would have made him laugh if it hadn't been for the fact that he was not looking at anyone or anything except for the chocolate brown eyes of Hermione, which were, surprisingly, widened in shock at the information he had shared with her and her friends. The reason David was staring at her was because he had not counted on her knowing what a halcyon was; something not even Ray had done. As Ray fancied himself somewhat of a magical creatures' expert, even when he was fourteen years old, it had really stung him for not knowing what a halcyon was.

'_But still! She sure as hell is something.'_

"But…..they are a myth, aren't they?" These were the first words that came from Hermione's mouth after some silent moments. She looked at her friends to see if they knew anything about this as there was a chance they might have heard of something like this, as they had lived in the magical world longer than she had. But all she got from both of them was a clueless shrug.

It was Linda who answered Hermione's question as none of her friends had acknowledged her; which she found peculiar as two of her friends were looking particularly at Hermione while Ray, a little clueless about what was happening, was trying to stifle his laugh incited by the looks sported by Charlus and Ron.

"I can give you the proof that Fede is a halcyon, Hermione. For one, Fede was, indeed, the one who splashed water on David when we were admiring our first view of the castle from the lake shore."

After hearing this, Hermione was going to complain about the bizarreness of the situation when she was stalled again; this time by Emi, who had recovered from her shock after noticing that Hermione knew what a halcyon was, something not even the Headmistress knew everything about; and later when she caught David staring at Hermione in wonder, something he had done only when he was looking at Fede, if he was not annoyed at his familiar that is.

"Hermione, the halcyons do have the power to control the elements of water and wind; and Fede uses those powers to his advantage whenever he has the opportunity."

Despite her curiosity at David's behaviour, Emi managed to smirk at her comment about Fede's opportunist nature when it came to pranking David. However, she really did find David's strange attraction to Hermione peculiar and planned to find out about it.

"So, what you are saying is that…..that bird can control water like pheonixes' control fire?"

The question, surprisingly, came from the lips of Charlus, who himself looked quiet surprised of his own action. But his question was nonetheless answered.

"I think you should get your facts straight, Mr Boy-Who-Lived."

Charlus glared at the way Ray addressed him, but kept his mouth shut for the time being.

"You see, phoenixes don't control fire; they are, literally, made of the elements of fire, and so can use fire to flame from one place to another and to regenerate their bodies through their ashes. But they can't actually control or manipulate fire. Unlike, David's familiar, who can do whatever you can imagine, and can't imagine, with a small drop of water."

After this little speech from the muscular black boy, all three Hogwarts students were open-mouthed and showing his annoyance at being called the _Boy-Who-Lived_ was the last thing on Charlus's mind.

All three of them were still in some semblance of shock when Dumbledore stood up, his enigmatic blue eyes twinkling, and started talking.

"First of all, I would like to appologize to all of you for the inconvenience of making you stay here, as I am sure you all must be very tired after such a long journey. But it was necessary for me and Headmistress Grey to counsel with all of the Heads of Hogwarts Houses about her request of living quarters within the castle, not only for herself and her staff but for her students, as well.

"I will not go into detail about our conversation as I do not want to keep you here any longer. So I will merely tell you the conclusion of this discussion of ours."

At this, he stopped and swept his eyes over the remaining student body, lingering for a moment on the group consisting of four Salem students and three Hogwarts students, two of whom were Head Boy and Head Girl and the other was a prefect.

'_Interesting!' _was the thought that ran through the Headmaster's mind before he continued talking.

"It has been decided that the Salem's teaching staff will be living in the Hogwarts' teacher's quarters for the time of their visit here.

"As for the students from Salem, it has been advised that they should be given dorm rooms in the Gryffindor Tower or the Hufflepuff Dungeons, as those are the two Hogwarts houses that do not demand anything from their students' birth. So in order to avoid any collision between the two schools, this has been arranged.

"But because of the lack of space in these spare dorm rooms, we have decided to put half of the numbers in the Gryffindor Dorms while the other half of the Salem student body will live in the Hufflepuff Dorms.

"Now, I have decided it should be the Salem's teaching staff to decide which students should be placed where, as they know their students best. So if you will, Headmistress Grey?"

All through Dumbledore's speech, Hermione's mouth kept on going southward. She could not believe that Salem's Headmistress managed to convince Dumbledore for allowing something as unorthodox as this to happen at Hogwarts.

For a few moments, she could do nothing more than stare at the ancient wizard. Then her brilliant mind started forming possibilities, _exotic_ possibilities regarding a certain blue-eyed wizard and her,_ alone,_ in the Gryffindor Common Room. She didn't know why, but she seemed unnaturally attracted to David. The reason why Hermione proclaimed that attraction as _unnatural_ was because it was not lust-based, as most attractions are at first sight; it was something more, something more than physical.

'_But how could that be possible? I've just met him. I mean I know I've been anticipating meeting him since the night Dumbledore had revealed about this wretched tournament, but still…'_

Hermione would have continued with this train of thought as well as forming those _exotic _possibilities at the same time if it hadn't been for the Headmistress of Salem herself to appear behind the object of her fascination, at whom she was unconsiously staring at as he was talking with his best friend.

Kathleen Grey was walking towards her four star students who were currently seating with three Hogwarts students who had remained behind in the Hall. Judging by their appearance, she was convinced that these three were the ones that she had heard about, although she did not remember any of their names except for the black haired boy.

This made her stop in her tracks and rethink her decision of placing these four in the Hufflepuff Dorms. She had made that decision because the Hufflepuff Dungeons had less space to accommodate and she knew that these four would like to remain as isolated as they could. Sometimes, she felt sad and disappointed while seeing this quartet keeping to themselves and not mingling with their peers. But she couldn't blame them because it wasn't their fault. It had been like this from the beginning of the first year of these four that they had to keep to themselves as their fellow students had tried to antagonize them. Some students had done that for one of them being of African-American origins; some of them had done that because two of them had been foreigners. And most of them had done that because they were jealous of this talented group. No one, not even the teachers, could deny the fact that these four were vastly talented as well as immensely powerful, even when they were mere freshman. But the fact that everybody envied them did not mean that they were not respected.

But that envy was more than enough to force these four to withdraw themselves to their own private bubble and not take notice of their year mates, or anyone for that matter.

Hence, it was quite a shock to the Headmistress when she saw that the quartet had not only opened up to _the Golden Trio_, as she was told the three Hogwarts students were known as, but could also see the possibility of a future friendship between the seven teens. That was when she realized that maybe that might happen as the two groups had lived through almost same circumstances and might understand each other on a level nobody else could.

That was all the reason the Headmistress needed to summon her Modern Runes Professor and tell her about the new developments as well as the required actions that needed to be taken to make it possible whatever she had in mind.

'_After all, interschool friendship is the main goal behind all of this'_

"So what you are saying is that there are only fourteen students accepted in Salem every year and that too after passing through an entrance exam!"

Emi couldn't help but grin at the disbelieving looks Hermione was giving her after she told her about Salem's admission system. She knew that if she had turned to look, she would have seen her three best friends showing signs of mirth at seeing Emi offhandedly outwitting one of Hogwarts' most talented students, who was incidentally the Head Girl as well.

Currently, they were climbing yet another set of stairs that would supposedly lead them to the Gryffindor Common Room faster than usual. Emi was glad that she and her friends were put into the Gryffindor Tower as that would allow her more time with Hermione and her two best friends. She really wanted the brown haired witch to be her friend, because, aside from Hermione's vast amount, and thirst, of knowledge, Emi knew that she was a kind-hearted person; someone you could share your problems with. And apparently Emi's friends agreed with her on that note.

'_Especially David'_

That was one more reason that Emi was glad about the living arrangements. So she could observe what it was between her best male friend and the Hogwarts Head Girl. She so wanted David to find someone who would like him for who he was, not what he looked like. Because Emi knew that David never put much into his looks.

'_Why would he, if he can change them at will?'_

Of course, Emi along with her other two friends knew about David's metamorphmagus abilities. But they never forced or pressured him to show his true face. Although, there was that one time that David had lost his control and showed Emi what his true eyes looked like. He had made her promise not to tell anyone about it as it would have made that _anyone_ suspicious about his parentage. Only Emi, Linda and Ray knew that David's Mom wasn't his biological mother, and David didn't want anyone else to know.

While Emi was so deep into her thoughts, her three best friends were having a conversation with Charlus and Ron about life at Hogwarts. They were debating on whether the Hogwarts House system was better than what they had in Salem when they suddenly heard someone clearing their throat. That made all thirteen of the students to look up to realize that they had reached the entrance of the Gryffindor Common Room and it was the Fat Lady who had cleared her throat.

"Password?" She asked, in her deep girlish voice, to the person in the immediate front of her, who was incidentally Hermione. Hermione, for her part, was in such a shock after realizing that they had already reached the Tower that it was as though someone had silenced her; what with her mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out of it. The shock did not come from the fact that she didn't realize that they had reached their destination, more from it that she had been so engrossed in her conversation with Emi that she forgot about everything happening around her and went into autopilot while talking and listening.

At long last, Hermione collected her wits about to give the password and climbed into the newly revealed portrait hole, all the other teens following closely; no one heard the Fat Lady returning the greetings to Hermione, which caused her to huff in anger. By the point Hermione reached the centre of the Common Room, she had completely recovered from her shock; for the better as she had her Head Girl duties to perform.

"Now, listen up everybody. In case you didn't hear the current password for entry, it is _Salve. _This is the Common Room and everybody from Gryffindor House, and now all of you, can stay up here as long as they want or need; however, there is a curfew time for everyone in the castle and after that time, you are forbidden from leaving your respective dorms. As all of you are seventh years, the curfew time for all of you is midnight. I don't know what your punishment will be if you break this rule as you are not a Hogwarts student but it was my responsibility to tell you this so I did.

"For the matter of dorms, the door to my left leads to a set of stairs which will take the boys to their dorm room while the door to my right will lead the girls to theirs; I am told that your dormitory will bear the label of your school so you won't have any trouble finding it.

"Also, I have been requested to tell the _boys_ that the stair to the girls' dormitory is charmed in such a way that only girls are able to climb it. So don't even think about trying anything."

At Hermione's last comment, the Salem students, who were showing all the signs of boredom at going through one more speech that night, sobered up. Some girls had a triumphant and smug look on their faces, while _all_ the six boys were showing various signs of disappointment.

Hermione was going to tell them about tomorrow's classes and their timetables when she was interrupted by a familiar voice, one she was starting to like.

"What about the boys' dormitory?" David asked.

For a moment, Hermione was stumped. Then, after a few seconds, she pulled herself together, for what looked like the millionth time that night, and started answering.

"Well…..you see, the founder of this House, Godric Gryffindor, found girls more trustworthy than the boys. So he only charmed the girls' dormitories that way and not the boys'", Hermione said, a little nervously without looking at her questioner.

David, for a moment stood where he was without showing any reaction to Hermione's words. Then he quirked one of his eyebrows and said, "Well, that was a bit sexist of him, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I completely agree with Dave on that one."

It wasn't Hermione who answered David's, yet another, rhetorical question, but Linda, who Hermione noticed was glaring at a certain redhead with forest green eyes. For a moment, Hermione was unsure as to whether scold David for his cheek at calling one of the Founders a sexist or reprimand Linda for encouraging David; but then she took a good look at the redhead Linda was glaring at, and after seeing the lust in her green eyes as she was looking at David, Hermione caught up with what David and Linda were thinking and also started glaring at the redhead, whose even name she didn't know.

'_As if I want to know!',_ Hermione thought furiously. Then after remembering that she had a job to do, she quenched her anger and started talking again.

"Moving on, there is only one more thing that I need to tell you before you all go to bed. It's about your timetables. As you all know, this event is organised to improve the educational system here in Europe, so all the four schools will share their classes with each other. But as there are only seventh years from the visiting schools, only that year will be sharing classes and the other Hogwarts students will be attending regular classes, which will be taught by the regular Hogwarts teacher and one of the visiting teachers whose subject of expertise will be related to that of the class in question.

"So as you can see, it is a very complex arrangement. That is why the timetables are yet to be drawn for everybody. But Professor McGonagall told me that they will be prepared by the time of tomorrow morning. So you don't have to worry about whether the classes will start tomorrow or not."

There Hermione took some deep breaths, her throat getting dry from all the talking. But just when she was about to dismiss everyone to their respective dorm rooms, someone spoke up.

"Who told you that we would be worried if the classes didn't start tomorrow?"

Hermione quickly found the culprit, who was coincidentally Ray, and fixed him with an intimidating glare. She was pleased to find out that she was able to make the bulky dark-skinned boy squirm under her glare, but she had to give Emi some of the credit for that as she had also turned to glare at Ray her own special way. Hermione smiled at that and was looking forward to knowing the Japanese girl; she had confirmed that Emi was Japanese even though her name was evidence enough.

"Alright, that is all there was, everybody. Thank you for listening to me. Now I think you should all get to bed as it is very late as it is, and you should all be very tired as well. So good night!"

With that, everybody started toward the stairs and, after making sure that the redhead was gone through the correct door, Hermione went up to her two best friends, who had stayed behind for her to finish her duties and were sitting on the couch near the fireplace.

Hermione was just done with the 'good nights' with her friends and was on her way to a side-door which would lead her to her own quarters, when she heard a shrill noise she never thought she would ever hear in Hogwarts. It was a phone ring, a mobile phone to be precise. Surprised, she looked around to find the source of the noise and found that it was coming from the hands of the only person in the room aside from her, the same person she was sure she was going to have indecent dreams about. She watched as David talked on the mobile phone, which was bulky and had an antenna jutting out from its top. It looked like he was talking with his parents but she could not be sure as she was on the other side of the Common Room.

'_Of course, I can't be sure as to how he is able to talk on that phone in the first place. Radio waves are the last thing that could penetrate the walls of this castle. Then how?'_

Hermione wasn't conscious about it but she had actually mouthed the word _how, _something David noticed while he was disconnecting the call. So after figuring out what Hermione was talking about, he replied the same way when he was sure that Hermione was watching; that was slowly mouthing the words _I'll tell you tomorrow. _

When David saw Hermione nodding in response, he smiled at her and said _Good night_ in the same manner. After a few seconds, Hermione bid him good night the same way and so he turned around and started walking towards the stairs that will lead him to his bed, which he hoped was comfortable enough.

While David was walking towards the stairs, he did not see the lingering contented smile on Hermione's face, which had made its appearance the moment he had flashed her his signature smile. She, of course, didn't know this but that smile would remain plastered on her face throughout the night.


	9. A N

**Author's Notes**

I'm sorry everybody but this is not an update, well not a real update. It's just, someone sent me a review saying that I have made a mess of the timeline, which I agree I have somewhat, and because of that some readers might not understand some aspects of the story like the ages of the various characters, canon or non-canon, regardless.

So I am going to give the birth dates of all the major characters introduced so far as well as how old they were in the respective chapters that they made an appearance in.

And sorry to that friend of mine, but I still can't reveal Lily's wh0le plot. Well not yet. But wait and see what happens as the story progresses. Thank you for reading.

**Birth Dates:-**

**Canon:- **

Lily- 30th January, 1960

James- 27th March, 1960

Remus- 10th March, 1960

Sirius- 18th September, 1959[Assumed]

Harry/David- 31st July, 1980

Hermione- 19th September, 1979

Ron- 1st March, 1980

Severus- 9th January, 1960

**Non-Canon:-**

Eve- 15th May, 1928

Charlus- 31st July, 1980

Aries- 3rd September, 1982

Selene- 13th December, 1985

Roselyn- 13th December, 1985

Ray- 1st October, 1979

Linda- 13th February, 1980

Emi- 15th August, 1980

**Ages in Chapters:-**

**Prologue- **

Date- 31st December, 1981

Lily- 21 years old, Severus- 21 years old, Harry- 1 year old.

**What Happened After- **

Date- 31st December, 1981

Lily- 21 years old, James- 21 years old, Remus- 21 years old, Sirius- 22 years old, Charlus- 1 year old.

**The Prince-**

Date- 31st December, 1981-1st January, 1982

Severus- 21 years old, Remus- 21 years old.

**Mother-Son-**

Date- 31st July, 1997

Harry/David- 17 years old, Eve- 69 years old.

**Re-Introduction of the Potters-**

**Present-**

Date- 31st July, 1997

Lily- 37 years old, James- 37 years old, Remus- 37 years old, Sirius- 37 years old, Charlus- 17 years old, Aries- 14 years old, Roselyn- 11 years old, Selene- 11 years old.

**Flashback- **

Date- 2nd September, 1994

Lily- 34 years old, James- 34 years old, Sirius- 34 years 0ld, Aries- 11 years 0ld[would turn 12 the next day], Charlus- 14 years 0ld.

**Hermione-**

**Present- **

Date- 31st July, 1997

Lily- 37 years old, James- 37 years old, Remus- 37 years old, Sirius- 37 years old, Charlus- 17 years old, Hermione- 17 years old, Ron- 17 years old, Ginny- 16 years old, Aries- 14 years old, Roselyn- 11 years old, Selene- 11 years old.

**Flashback-**

Date- 7th August, 1992.

Lily- 32 years old, Hermione- 12 years old, Aries- 9 years old.

**Ain't Doin Too Bad-**

Date- 1st September, 1997

Harry/David- 17 years old, Ray- 17 years 0ld, Linda- 17 years old, Emi- 17 years old, Eve- 69 years 0ld.

**Hogwarts-**

Date- 7th September, 1997

Hermione- 17 years old, Charlus- 17 years old, R0n- 17 years old, Harry/David- 17 years old, Ray- 17 years old, Linda- 17 years old, Emi- 17 years old, Aries- 15 years old[But still a fourth year].

I hope it's a little bit less messy now. Take care everyone.


	10. First Day and Classes

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its Universe belong to J. K. Rowling and her associates. Doing it only for fun. **

**Chapter IX- First Day and Classes**

**8****th**** September, 1997**

When Hermione walked out of the Head Girl quarters and into the Gryffindor Common Room, she found it to be filled to the brim. For a moment, she didn't understand why that was until a familiar face reminded her of last night; and she made a beeline to that person. When she was right behind that person, Hermione decided to make her presence known.

"Good morning, Emi. You are sitting here alone. Where are the others? Still in bed?"

Emi turned in the armchair she was sitting in and beamed at the person who had just greeted her; this followed by Emi furrowing her eyebrows as though she was confused by what Hermione had asked her. Then after realizing that Hermione had no reason to know about her friends' early morning habits, Emi quickly formulated an answer to explain the situation to Hermione.

"Oh no Hermione, they are very much awake. It's just they follow a very strict exercise regime which starts at 5 in the morning and continues for two hours, something my body can't do", Emi said, beaming all the while. Then she looked down at her wristwatch, ignoring Hermione's open mouth, and said, "They'll be here in under…..fifteen minutes, if nobody interrupts them."

It took Emi to actually jerk Hermione's chin up with her index finger to make her close her mouth. That brought Hermione out of her quandary and the first thing she did was sit on the couch opposite Emi's armchair and quirk her eyebrow in a disbelieving manner at Emi.

Emi, understanding what the brown haired witch meant, smiled a little sheepishly, and said, "I know, okay. And I've told them many a times to at least lower that to one and a half hour, at the very least. But they're just too stubborn and stupid to even consider that!" Emi heaved a deep sigh and leaned back in her chair, all the while eyeing Hermione.

Hermione, for her part, had come out of her disbelieving shell and made a mental note to not expect anything ordinary from this quartet of friends; something she had done only twice in the past, and both the situations involved a _Potter. _Shaking her head, she asked the question that was concerning her more than the duration of this unbelievable regime.

"Emi? It's not too dangerous, right? I mean this exercise. They don't get hurt often, do they?"

Emi, having been in the place where Hermione was at that moment, knew exactly how Hermione was feeling, although, she found it interesting to hear Hermione worrying over her friends, even though she had met them just the other day.

'_Either it is just a general concern or maybe something else entirely…' _Emi thought, smirking slightly. Hermione, however, was completely clueless about Emi's reaction to her concern, as her eyes were trained on her own lap.

Finally, Emi took pity on the poor girl and tried to put her at ease by saying, "It is perfectly safe Hermione. Aside from some pulled muscles once in a while, they always come back to me without a scratch; can't say the same about the smell though."

Emi said the last bit while pinching her nose and it did what it was supposed to. Both girls started chuckling in a very unladylike way. It was in that state that Hermione's best friends found them. Ron stared open-mouthed at the scene unfolding in front of him. He couldn't remember the day he had seen Hermione laughing this loudly before.

Beside Ron, Charlus's thoughts were somewhat along the same lines; except for the fact that he had a memory when he had seen Hermione this happy.

**Flashback**

It was Charlus's fourth year at Hogwarts and Aries's first. Charlus had been really worried for Aries in those first few days after the start of the term. Even though, his Dad had visited Hogwarts especially to have a talk with Aries and to comfort him, Charlus could not stop worrying about his younger brother. How could he, when Aries had to share dormitory with the gits like Malfoy. Charlus had even talked with Uncle Sev after his first Potions class about Aries's safety in the Slytherin Dorms; the end result had been a very terrifying experience for Charlus. Because his Potions Master/Uncle took it as a personal insult when one of his students/nephews came to him with regards to his, Severus's, Godson's safety and well-being in his own House!

After that showdown, Charlus was so distracted, and terrified, that he, actually, forgot Aries's birthday. It was when Hermione had mentioned the date to Charlus in the passing that he remembered what day it was and then, after the morning classes were concluded, dashed to the Gryffindor Tower to fetch the gift he had made for Aries.

They did not make a great deal out of it, as they had already, on his Mum's insistence, celebrated Aries's birthday in the Potter Manor on their last night there. But it had still brought a broad smile on Aries's face when he had found out that his older brother had made a second gift for him, and that was all Charlus wanted to see.

After that, days became a blur for Charlus, comprised of classes, homework and Quidditch practice. Until the nineteenth of September when, in the middle of the Great Hall full of students eating their breakfast, a paper bird skidded to a halt and landed neatly on Hermione's empty plate-as they had just arrived-and unfolded itself revealing a fresh piece of parchment with no creases on it.

First thought that had come to Charlus's mind was that it was a sick joke that someone had pulled on Hermione as the whole castle knew that Hermione was bibliophile. But then words started to appear on the parchment written in green ink; and as the words continued to appear, Charlus started to worry for his younger brother's life, whose handwriting the words were written in. The reason behind this worry was that, the last time he and Ron had tried to wish Hermione 'Happy Birthday' as boldly as Aries had just done, they had ended up on the wrong side of Hermione's wand. They had tried to do so in an empty classroom where they knew Hermione liked to read as it was situated on a very isolated part of the castle. The moment Charlus and Ron had cried out loud a 'Happy Birthday, Hermione!' she had panicked and started throwing all kinds of hexes that she had read and practiced at least once, which were humongous in number. Around the time Hermione realized who it was, Ron was sprawled flat on the floor as he was hit with multiple jelly-legged and Charlus was hovering ten feet off the ground as Hermione had cast a hover charm on him, which she was still holding up; and that was only the tip of the iceberg.

By the time they had returned to the Common Room after a full body check-up by Madam Pomfrey and a vicious tongue-lashing by Hermione, they made a promise to Hermione not to do anything stupid like that again. After that, every year on her birthday, Hermione would hug both the boys and they would warmly return it with a gently whispered 'Happy birthday' in her ear; they would give her birthday gifts to her on Charlus's birthday, or the week that followed it, as that was the only time when all three friends were found together in the summer holidays.

So it was a complete shock to Charlus and Ron when a warm smile appeared on Hermione's lips as she read the birthday card Aries had sent her. Then after a few minutes and a discrete hand gesture later from Hermione, Aries himself arrived in front of them sporting a nervous and shy smile. Charlus had noticed that Ron, who was at the time sitting in the seat between Charlus and Hermione, was making hand and eye gestures to Aries to tell him to run with his tail between his legs, although not as discreetly as was necessary. But neither Aries nor Hermione paid him any heed, as both were looking at each other with that same knowing smile on their lips.

Then with what Charlus assumed was the speed of light, Hermione was on her feet and Aries in her arms, both smiling warmly. It was so sudden that Ron didn't even realize for a few seconds that Hermione wasn't sitting on his left side anymore. After the initial shock, though, he got a little angry and asked the question Charlus wanted to as well, just a bit more nicely.

"Hermione, why can Aries wish you a 'Happy birthday' like that and we can't?" Ron asked with more than just a little edge in his voice.

"That is because _Ronald_", that was enough to make Ron forget about his anger and start fidgeting nervously again, but Hermione wasn't done yet. "Aries's method of wishing me was far more thoughtful and one that didn't get him into the Hospital Wing."

"But we could have done something similar to what Aries had done. I mean, come on Hermione, we were both twelve year olds then. Surely we wouldn't have repeated what we had done in second year."

This time, it was Charlus who had spoken up. In response, Hermione, who had, by now, taken a seat right across from her previous one with Aries sitting beside her, got this really dangerous glint in her eyes that made both Charlus and Ron gulp.

It happened something like this. With a smirk that would have made Malfoy run for his money, Hermione started talking, "Well, for one, I have been accepting Aries's cards since second year. As for why, it was because in all the years I had known him now, he has filled the empty place of a younger sibling in my life. The second reason, Charlus, is that I never told you _not_ to give me birthday cards; I only asked you not to do anything as stupid as you did that year", here her smirk became more prominent, "Besides, my father would have killed both of you if he had found out that you two had given me _cards"_, she stretched the last word more than was necessary. Barely stifling her laugh at the incredulous looks Charlus and Ron were giving her, she continued, "You know how fathers are about their daughters and their daughters' future _boyfriends."_

The last word that Hermione, offhandedly, uttered was the last thing Ron registered in his mind as, at the mention of the word 'boyfriends', he gave out a loud squeak and promptly feinted, specifically on his filled to the brim plate; his mind not even entertaining the thought that Hermione might be joking.

The sight of Ron's head in his own plate was the last straw for Aries as well as Hermione and they started laughing so loudly that even Hagrid would've heard it from his Hut.

It was while both of them were clutching their stomachs that Charlus got himself together from his shock; the shock of being pranked by _Hermione_ as well as at the idea of Hermione _pranking_! He even smiled a little at those thoughts. He was, all the while, thinking that even though Hermione was taking the micky out of him and his best mate, she was truthful when she pronounced Aries as her honorary brother and was, indeed, more comfortable with him than she was with her best friends.

**Flashback Over**

As Charlus came back to reality, he looked back at his female friend-who was animatedly talking with the Japanese girl from Salem, by now-and smiled at the possibility of Hermione finding one other person who could relate to her on a level that neither he nor Ron could. It was, at that moment, that the portrait hole opened and in-walked the other three Salem students Charlus had met the other night.

Hermione was just asking Emi about how different the courses she took at Salem were to those at Hogwarts; personally, Hermione thought that they mustn't be that much different, as even though Salem was using magic on a whole new level, the fundamentals were still the same. But she still wanted to hear Emi out completely before laying any verdict. Emi was just telling her how the Runes she and her friends learnt at Salem were different from the ones she was examining from the Runes textbook Hermione had brought with her, when she heard a familiar voice from right behind her.

"Already into the cryptic language of the creeps, eh Emi? I just can't get how you guys can even look at them without getting a headache."

Hermione turned in the couch she was sitting in, which had its back to the entrance of the Common Room, and stared at the almost black eyes of Ray Johnson, who was making a show of shivering at the sight of the open Runes book in Hermione's lap.

Emi, who was leaning forward in her seat to have a good look at the Runes in Hermione's book, stared up at her not-so-into-Runes friend and said, "What can I say, Ray? It's not my fault that you chose Magical Creatures instead of Runes when you were offered the choice, you know? Anyway, why are you guys looking so…..clean? What happened? Lost in the castle so much so that you had to cancel your oh-so-mighty training regime, eh?" Emi finished with a slight smirk on her lips.

Even Hermione had to grin at that one. But her happy feelings got lost somewhere in her mind the moment her eyes landed on the other two members of _the Salem Quartet, _as she had decided to dub them. Both David and Linda were far behind Ray, having an argument by the looks of it. But the thing that troubled Hermione was one of Linda's hands, which were in David's chin-length dark hair. She didn't know why but she felt a surge of jealousy in the pit of her stomach.

'_Possessiveness!_ _This early! There's got to be something really wrong with me if I am this possessive of David. Not even twenty four hours have passed since our first meeting yet. What's happening?'_

While Hermione's mind was troubled with this thought, David was getting more and more annoyed at Linda for her stubborn behaviour.

"Lin, I am not shortening my hair. I like them long, okay?" He said exasperatedly.

"But Dave, they look so mangy. At least shorten them so that they will not go beyond your chin, dammit!" Linda said, sounding just as annoyed.

"Now you are just making that up. There is nothing wrong with my hair and I'm not making them short just to make you happy."

Linda glared furiously at David, her left hand in his hair all the while they were talking/arguing. Now, though, her hand had become a fist, nastily tugging his hair in the process.

"Hey, that hurts, okay?" David asked, hissing in pain. But his friend didn't budge, so he maneuvered his head in such a way that he was facing Linda and she was forced to turn in the direction they had just come. David mimicked his friend by glaring at her just as furiously.

"Lin? Are you going to loosen your grip or not?"

"Are you going to listen to me or not?"

For a few moments, they stood in this position, unmoving. The only thing that changed was David's glare that became less and less menacing and more and more frustrating. Finally, he threw his hands in the air and hissed, "Fine, fine! But not much shorter or someone might notice", then he added in an undertone, "Why do I always have to yield?" But Linda heard it just as easily as if it was meant for her, and replied, "Because you pick the wrong fights, _boy._" Linda deliberately called him boy, knowing more than enough what his reaction would be to that.

Sure enough, David's expression turned into an ugly glower, while his face turned bright red. He uttered through his clenched teeth, "Don't. Call. Me. BOY!" Just then, he looked past her and noticed Hermione looking intently, and a bit weirdly, at the both of them. He looked back at Linda to hiss something more at her, when he noticed how close Linda's face was to his own. Getting nervous, he tried to back a little away from her; emphasis on the word _tried, _as Linda's left hand was still in his hair. He knew about Lin's feelings for him were more than just of friendship, so his nervousness quickly transformed into awkwardness. He was just about to tell her to back off in the hopes of putting a stop to this awkwardness when Linda, herself spoke up, "Come on, Dave, do as I say."

David's eyes widened in shock. It was nothing to do with the words that had tumbled out of Linda's lips; it was her voice, which had turned…_husky?..._when she had said what she had. Now, it was not new for David, Linda's occasional flirting that is. She did it once in a while, to tease and irritate him; but not with this much intensity.

'_Seems I am not the only one who is acting out of character since we entered this Castle.' _David thought, while alternating his line of vision between Linda's eyes-which were staring intently at his own-and Hermione, who was still staring in their direction with that strange look in her eyes that he couldn't put a name to.

Finally, snapping out of his trance and noticing that Hermione wasn't the only audience that he and Linda had garnered by this point, he discreetly whispered to Linda, "I can't, Lin. There are too many eyes on us, especially Hermione's."

He didn't know whether his eyes were deceiving him or not, but he thought he caught a slight smirk on Lin's lips when he mentioned Hermione.

'_I think I should take Lin to the School Nurse for a check-up, and get myself checked as well. Maybe, the food was dosed with a potion that is making us act like this…Now that's an idea!'_

Smiling at the prospect of brewing such a potion, he, again, tried to move away from Linda and found himself able to do that as Linda had removed her hand from his hair. So he made his way to his other two friends, Linda right on his heels. When he reached them, he noticed that Emi, and surprisingly Hermione, were glaring at him. The former, he could understand. But Hermione, what had he done to receive such a look from her! Deciding to think about it later, he put it to the back of his mind and tried to find a solution to the mess Ray, for the millionth time, had put him in. Emi's next words were proof enough to what Ray had done.

"Spill. Now."

David though, instead of looking into Emi's intimidating gaze, turned to his best mate and said, "Thanks for keeping the secret, asshole."

"Hey, don't blame it on me. You know Emi's interrogation techniques. Even you can't evade them sometimes", Ray said defensively.

David knew, absolutely, what Ray was talking about, but he still glared at him for a few seconds, then turned to Emi and said, slowly, "I…..I was going to tell you….."

"When?" Emi demanded.

David knew he shouldn't have kept it from Emi, but when was he supposed to tell her this? When they were talking with three Hogwarts students, three famous Hogwarts students at that? Nonsense! Times like these were the only ones that he put Emi and the word 'unreasonable' in the same sentence. Seriously….

"Look, I was going to tell you, but that place didn't enter my mind until this morning. Now, you would not have wanted me to wake you up at five in the morning, would you?" David's earlier frustration was evident in this sentence.

Emi continued to glare at him some more, but was brought out of her trance when she heard Hermione.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Emi detected a hint of anger and annoyance in Hermione's voice, as well; but didn't think much of it as she herself was annoyed at her friend for not telling her about this new discovery of his.

'_He can tell me now, can't he? Unless….'_

To confirm her suspicion, Emi discreetly glanced at David, silently questioning him. Sure enough, David caught the look easily and took a quick glance at Hermione in return, silently answering Emi's question. So, after looking around and noting that not only Hermione but, now, Ron and Charlus as well were looking curiously at both her and David, she said-in order to get out of the predicament she had put her friends and she in-with a phony smile, "Nothing Hermione. It's just, eh,….."

Seeing Emi's inability at formulating a lie-which was new-David said, "It's just, I forgot to tell her about this new potion that I had brewed that could, um, minimize the signs of fatigue and lack of hygiene from your body for a few hours. Eh, right Emi?"

Seeing David's pointed look, Emi tried to go with the flow as well.

"Eh, yeah. That's what I was angry about. You see, Hermione, I am the one who comes with the ideas for new potions in our group and…..um, I got a little angry and jealous that David came up with one so useful and I didn't. So that is why I was….angry. Right, David?"

"Yeah, of course. I mean, it just came to me two days before we were to leave from Salem, and I just brewed it and…..forgot about it. It's _reasonable_ for Emi to get angry that I didn't tell her about it. I mean, I would too, if she created a new hybrid Rune, and didn't tell me about it. You see, we all get a little inferiority complex when one of us does something new in the other's area of expertise. You would know the felling, right?"

Emi was surprised at how well David had come up with such a plan. But she wasn't going to complain as long as it got them out of this mess she had created. Although, she didn't miss David's jab at her when he emphasised the word 'reasonable'; but she let go of it as she herself knew that she had been a tiny bit unreasonable with the whole situation.

Hermione, being the merit to her intelligence, knew from the beginning that both Emi and David were lying; as, even though she didn't hear the conversation between Emi and Ray because of her….predicament, she did hear David saying something about a _place_. And so she knew that the both of them wanted to hide something from her and her friends when David started talking nonsense about some potion. But she let go of it because she trusted them not to do anything that would harm anyone in the school and she hoped that whatever it was that they were hiding, they would tell her sooner as that would mean that they trusted her just as much as she trusted them.

David-seeing that the situation was diffused, for the moment-sighed in relief and made an attempt to reduce the tension in the air some more by saying, "Come on, you guys. Let's go down to have some breakfast. I am starved!"

That statement got everyone's mind off whatever they were thinking and all seven of them got out of the Gryffindor Common Room-halting their procession for a few minutes as Ray had stayed behind to flirt with the Fat Lady-and made their way to the Great Hall, talking and laughing all the while.

When they arrived in the Great Hall, they found it to be almost full. They could see that the Staff Table didn't have any empty chairs, making them draw the conclusion that all the teachers were present. The only ones that were missing were some of the Hogwarts students and most of the Durmstrang students. Shrugging it off, all of them made their way to the Gryffindor Table, all the while ignoring the incredulous stares they were receiving from the surrounding students.

David had just put some eggs and bacon in his plate and poured a goblet full of orange juice for himself when he thought he was missing something. Just then, a warm gust of wind blew past his face and he felt his lips stretching into a face splitting grin as he felt a much warmer weight on his right shoulder. He turned his head a bit and lost himself in the warm eyes of his familiar, who was making a happy chirping sound as if wishing him a 'Good morning'.

Hermione watched in amazement as David petted his familiar and because of which he, Fede, started making sounds of contentment-she didn't know how she knew they were the sounds of contentment but she did-and wondered how it would feel if she were the one doing what David was doing. But she got distracted when she felt someone sit beside her. Though, when she turned, her face split into wide grin as well, as the boy who sat next to her was no one else but Aries, who was looking a bit nervous and fidgety. When Hermione noticed that, she immediately quit smiling and leaned in to whisper in Aries's ear, "He is not going to eat you, you know?"

That whisper, nonetheless, did its job, as Aries turned his head to mock-glare at his honorary sister, who was making no effort at hiding the mirth in her eyes. Just then, a voice-that Hermione was quickly despising as much as Ron's-made them look to their left to see it was Ray, who was sitting between Ron and Charlus. Hermione thought that maybe it was Fate's cruel joke on her or maybe it was their almost identical personalities, but both Ron and Ray had taken a liking to each other and had developed a healthy friendship overnight. Then she saw Ron-who was sitting on her left-saying something, making her realize that she hadn't heard what Ray had said, in the first place. So she tried to come out of her head and pay more attention on the on-going conversation.

"Who's that little fella, eh Hermione?" Ray's this question got David out of his own amazement at seeing his familiar again; even though it had hardly been three hours since he last saw him before departing from his dorm-room. Then he looked around to see who Ray was talking about. Sure enough, there was a boy sitting on Hermione's right. He had raven black hair and brown eyes, set on a heart shaped face. He seemed to be in his fifth year. The moment David locked his eyes with the boy's brown ones, the said boy started fidgeting nervously, scooting a little closer to Hermione.

David found it a little peculiar, and for a moment thought that the brown eyed wizard was Hermione's brother; until Ron said, "Oh, he's Aries, Charlie's younger brother….."

"And we are Charlie's sisters"

David had to turn to his right to see who had spoken. Two beautiful girls came into his line of vision. Both were red-haired and pretty; David suspected them to be twins. By the looks of it, they appeared to be in their second year. The girl in the front-who David thought was the one who had spoken-was tugging her sister behind her; that was until the girl in the behind sat beside Charlus, who was sitting at the edge of their side of the table. The more outspoken of the two sisters went on and sat beside her other brother, who, David noted, was shaking his head and was smiling affectionately at the same time.

Once Roselyn was seated beside Aries, she looked around to see who else was present aside from her brothers, Ron and Hermione. There was a boy sitting between her oldest brother and his best friend who she had never met before. Then there was another boy who was sitting between two other girls. She remembered that boy; he was the one who barking mad at a bird the other night. When she looked closely, she found out that the same bird was sitting on that boy's shoulders. What was even more unbelievable was that the bird and the boy were both staring at her, intently. She didn't like being stared at, regardless of it being human or animal. So she lifted her shoulders firmly-just like she had seen Mum do all the time- and said, "What are you both staring at?"

That backfired, though, as everybody sitting there stopped what they were doing and started staring at her in response. But she made herself ignore everyone else and keep glaring at the _boy_ and his stupid _bird._ Finally, the _boy_ said, "Well I can't say about Fede, but I am staring at you because you remind me of someone I can't recall", then he looked around to see someone but before she could follow his gaze, he turned his head back at her and said, "By the way, I am David Principe. And you are….?"

Roselyn stared at the _boy_ when he told her his name. She had heard that name somewhere; but couldn't _recall,_ in his own words. Then she mentally shook herself and said, "I am Roselyn Potter."

David nodded his head at the little redhead, making a note never to piss the little dragon off. Then he turned his head back to look at his familiar, who was still staring at the girl, Roselyn, with some _curiosity_ in his eyes; David never knew why, but he always knew what his familiar's body language meant. So, in order to get his familiar's attention back at him, David shook his shoulder a bit. The moment he did that, Fede turned his head and looked David in the eye, with some strange tint in them that David had never seen in Fede's eyes before. His curiosity peaked, David made a mental note to keep an eye on Charlus's sister, _one_ of his sisters.

The moment Linda heard the voice of the girl who had flamboyantly declared that she was _the boy-who-lived's _sister, the first thought that came to her mind was, _'I knew there had to be at least one snotty brat in the oh-so-mighty Potter family.'_ But that thought was eradicated from her mind the moment she set eyes on the other girl, the girl who was now sitting beside Charlus. She knew the feeling. She had never felt it before, but she had heard and read about that feeling from her family and her family's library. If what she had felt just then was anything near the things she had heard and read, then she was going to make her mother and her maternal grandpa _so very jealous._ But she wasn't going to get her hopes up, yet. She just made a mental note to keep an eye on _the boy-who-lived's _sister, _one _of them, at least.

Emi was smiling-in a sort of envious way-at the Potter siblings. Lord knew how much she coveted a younger sibling herself. But that didn't mean she didn't find any. Ray and David were as much of brothers to her as she could find; and Linda….well she was like the best thing that had happened to Emi since she turned eleven. But still…..she sometimes felt lonely during the summer holidays- the only time she wasn't with her three friends-and wished she had a brother or a sister to be with. She knew she was being a little selfish and a little inconsiderate of her parents, but the fact that her parents could only do just as much wasn't lost to her. She only hoped that she could at least be friends with all these new people she was meeting now.

Charlus was just enjoying his breakfast and a conversation with Ray and Selene when he felt someone tap his shoulder. When he turned and realized who it was, he smiled warmly and was about to greet the person, _verbally_; but the said person beat him at it as she greeted him herself, _orally._ While feeling his girlfriend's lips moving in sync with his own, he heard a wolf-whistle, a couple of _'Ewe, gross!'_ and an almost indistinguishable _'Get a room!'_ from his surroundings. But he ignored it all for the moment, as he lost himself to Ginny's warmth.

After what appeared to be a few hours, she parted her lips from his and said, beaming all the while, "Guess, I have to find another seat as I can see that you don't have one. Unless, of course, you don't mind me sitting on your la…"

"I think the seat across from Charlie is very much empty, Ginny."

Ginny glowered at the speaker-who was, unsurprisingly, her brother-but did as he suggested. The moment she sat down beside the blonde girl she had seen last night, she started feeling a little uncomfortable. That was the only problem with Ginny; after what had happened to her in her first year at Hogwarts, she had become a little vary of _anyone_ she didn't know that well and would feel uncomfortable if she was forced to form new acquaintances with strangers, regardless of the nature of the said strangers.

Hermione, noticing her female friend's unease, tried to reduce the gap between Ginny and the newcomers; although, it wasn't as though there weren't any gaps between _herself_ and the foreigners.

"Okay, I think that introductions are in order", Hermione said, a little too brightly for everyone's sake. Emi, realizing this, tried to help the brown-haired witch, whom she really wanted to call her friend.

"Yes, I think so too. Let's start with the youngest shall we?" Emi said while looking at the girl sitting beside Charlus, thinking that she was the youngest because of her small build.

Roselyn, knowing her twin sister-and best friend-tried to take the spotlight from over her head by saying, "But I just told you my name!"

It had the desired effect, as all the four people, she still didn't know of, turned their head in her direction. Seeing the obvious question etched on their faces, she continued, "You said we should start with the youngest, and that's _me_."

Realizing her mistake, Emi smiled at the redheaded girl and said, "Oh, my mistake. So, you are Roselyn", then she turned her head, again, towards the other twin and said, "And your sister's name is….?"

For a moment, Roselyn only stared at her sister's face as it kept getting redder and redder until her oldest brother, who was sitting beside Selene, put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Sorry, Emi. But my angel over here is a bit shy. Her name is Selene, and she is sorted into Ravenclaw house; the first in our family, proving she is brighter than even Mum!"

Charlus smiled proudly at his sister, as she blushed even more at his compliments. He always liked Selene a little bit more than Rosy. Selene was more like his Mum. Rosy was more like him and Aries. He was still looking at his sister, so he missed the looks ranging from amusement to adoration that others were throwing at him and his sister, one coming from right behind him.

It was when Charlus mentioned the Houses did David notice that all four of the siblings wore cloaks belonging to different Houses; something he found really interesting. He made his thoughts vocal by saying, "This is something. All four of you belong to different Houses, don't you?"

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

David heard his friends barely stifling their chuckles after hearing what the _Little Dragon-_he decided to dub the youngest Potter-had said. His own lips twitched a bit. He decided to play with her and said in this very serious tone, "No, as a matter of fact. But I was curious as I have read that students get sorted into the Hogwarts Houses by different personality traits. What made me curious is that how could all of you be so different from one another when you are all siblings."

He said that because he knew that this statement will rattle the little Dragon's mind and make her more annoyed at him. Her reply, however, stunned him out of his wits.

"Are you crazy? The stupid hat was going to put me into Gryffindor. I told it that I would set it on fire if it didn't put me in Hufflepuff. You see, I wanted all four of us to be in different Houses and I knew that Selene was going to be in Ravenclaw. So the only option I had was Hufflepuff, so I took it." At this point, Roselyn's face turned into this very scary looking smirk as she continued, ignoring the stunned faces of everyone sitting at the table as she had told this to no one but Selene, "Plus, I wanted Dad to win the bet this year."

Hermione was shocked as she heard what Roselyn had just told them. She couldn't believe what Roselyn had done. She knew the youngest Potter was stubborn to a fault, but this was just…..unbelievable. Suddenly, a memory came to her mind and she turned her head so that she could glare at her best friend. When she was sure that she had his complete attention, she said, "Did _you_ tell her?"

Charlus gulped as he heard Hermione's question. Her tone of voice was more intimidating than the question itself. He was well aware of everyone's eyes on him but he was so scared that he couldn't even blink his eyes; he knew Hermione's anger, being a first-hand witness to the rare occasions that Hermione had lost control of her temper. Although, he was pulled out of his predicament by his most favourite person in the world, and he was never more grateful to hear her voice, _ever_.

Lily Potter was just standing a few paces from the table where all of her children were sitting, debating on whether or not to save her son from Hermione's ire; she herself was a bit put off by Roselyn's sorting, and she wasn't saying that because of the gold she had lost to her husband. She wanted her youngest daughter to be with at least one of her older brothers, if not for anything then just to keep her in line. She knew how much Roselyn liked to be in the middle of _anything_ that was even remotely considered dangerous. Now she was going to wreak havoc on this school, even if she was just a first year!

Finally, Lily decided to take pity on her son and said, "Good morning, children!" She got a little saddened, even after receiving just as warm greetings from all of her children,_ 'Not all of them.'_ But she shook those feelings aside and sat beside her son's girlfriend, who, Lily noticed, visibly relaxed when she did that. She smiled at the youngest Weasley, and then turned to look at everyone in general, her emerald green eyes stopping just for a little while at the blue-eyed wizard sitting just two seats from her.

"I have everybody's timetables here, in case you were wondering why I am barging in on your hospitality", Lily said, while waving the pieces of parchment in her left hand exuberantly. Then she heard someone say, "Wonder if they had managed to make those for us."

Lily looked around to see it was the boy sitting between Charlus and Ronald who had said that; and judging by his tone of voice, she knew that he was hoping for exactly the opposite of what he had said. So to dampen his mood a bit, she said while looking right at him, "I did say I have all of yours, didn't I?"

Lily took great pleasure in seeing his face fall slightly; she couldn't help it, it was pretty comical. Then the girl sitting beside Ginny said, "Oh? I thought one of our teachers would distribute them." Lily turned to face the girl and said, "Well, it would have been the case. But as I was collecting the timetables for all of my misfits over here", she exaggeratedly waved her hand flourishingly in the direction of her children-who complained at the way she described them-and continued, "Professor Spencer handed yours to me and requested me to deliver them to you, as that was easy and less time consuming."

Then Lily looked around and stared a little strictly at each of them; and said, "I also want to tell you, _all of you_, that outside of this tournament, there is no _ours_ and _theirs_. All the Professors are going to teach you something and you are all going to learn it _with_ the students from other schools. So no _our teachers_ if you will please, Ms….?" The question was directed at Linda, who, for her part, was blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Owens, Mam. And sorry, it will not happen again."

Lily just stared at the girl for a few silent seconds. She had thought that the blonde girl was just one of those gossip girls, whose biggest worry was if their make-up was fine or not. But the answer she had gotten was like from one of those army-based movies she had watched with her husband.

In the end, Lily smiled warmly at the girl and said, "Well, if I heard it correctly, you guys were talking something about introductions, weren't you?" She didn't wait for an answer and continued, "Well, let's start with you", she nodded at the boy who had spoken earlier.

For the first time in a long time, Ray was scared shitless because of a person, and it had been even longer than that since a _teacher_ had intimidated him like this. He could see Principe's shit-eating grin, mocking him. Finally, Ray swallowed hard and said, in a nervous voice, "Eh, Ray Johnson, Mam."

Lily was hardly keeping her face straight as she saw Mr Johnson squirming under her gaze. He reminded her so much of how James and Sirius had reacted the many times she had caught them doing something wrong. After having her fun, she turned and looked at the Japanese girl who was sitting to the left of the blue-eyed wizard. Lily had to lean forward in her seat to look at her. She was about to ask the girl her name but before she could say anything, the said girl smiled brightly at her and said, "I am Emi Kamikaze, Professor Potter. It's nice to finally meet you."

Lily thought that this Emi was the kind of a girl that you can't help but like on principle. So she did the only thing she could; she smiled at her and said that she was glad to meet her too.

Then she turned at the final person at the table that she didn't know _in person_. She stared at him for a while before asking him who he was. He didn't react the way she had expected him to. He didn't start squirming or stammering or anything. He simply stared at her, just like she was staring at him. She could see that the bird that she had petted last night was on his shoulder, and even it was staring at her.

Finally, _he_ said, "David Principe, Professor…By any chance, have we ever met before?"

David couldn't remember from where, but he thought that he had seen the woman he was staring at before; the feeling was the same as to the one he had gotten when he had seen the _Little Dragon_. He saw her getting surprised at his question, but she soon shook herself out of the shock and beam at him as she said, "I don't think so David. Maybe, maybe not."

David stared at her some more after that cryptic reply until she turned and said to everyone in general. "Okay. So as you all know, only the seventh years' timetables are altered. For the other six years, the schedule would be same as before; the only thing that will be changed is that the classes will be taught by your regular Hogwarts teacher and one of the professors from the visiting schools. So there are no new timetables for you.

"As for the seven of you, here are your timetables", Lily waved her wand at the parchments that she had lowered on the table, and each of the pieces went to their respective owners. She was going to say something when she heard Emi's quiet voice.

"How come you are not the Charms Professor, Professor Potter?"

Lily allowed herself a small smile as she looked at the faces of the four Salem students-all of them quirking one of their eyebrows, which was hilarious-and said, "Well, I took what I got; and personally I don't think I could ever compete with Professor Flitwick, whether it may be in terms of magical prowess or knowledge."

"No shit, I've read about him. He was a duelling champion once, wasn't he?"

Lily frowned a bit and said while looking at the person who spoken, "Language, Mr Johnson", she didn't continue until she heard a _'Sorry, Professor'_ in a quiet voice, "Yes, you are right. I've heard he was one of the best." Then noticing that Ray was still looking at his lap because of her scolding, Lily added, in a more pleasant tone, "Although, I have to say that I am impressed by your knowledge of such a thing. I can confidently wager that not even half of the Hogwarts students would have heard or read of that bit of information; and you just came here yesterday." She was pleased to see that her words put a proud smile on the boy's face.

Lily was going to say what she wanted to say before Mr Johnson's comment about Professor Flitwick, but she was interrupted again, this time by Ronald, who said, "But there was nothing special about what Mrs Potter did, was there?"

Lily smirked as she predicted what Ronald was going to get as an answer for that comment, and sure enough, one of her favourite persons decided to put some sense into Ronald.

"Honestly, Ronald! You are in seventh year now. Even Aries would know what was incredible about what _Professor_ Potter just did there", Lily was both happy and a little put off by Hermione's emphasis on the word 'Professor', but didn't say anything about it as Hermione wasn't finished talking, "It is hard to perform a banishing charm on multiple objects _and_ to banish them in different directions; and Professor Potter did that non-verbally, something you still can't do properly." Lily almost laughed out loud as Ronald glared balefully at Hermione, which was really hilarious, especially as it didn't have any effect on Hermione.

Finally, after putting a neutral expression on her face, Lily said, "Now, I suggest you all hurry up with your breakfast, as it is getting nearer to nine, okay? You three", she looked at Charlus, Hermione and Ronald at this, "Help these four and anyone else in finding their classrooms. I'll see you all at lunch, and till then, please, don't get into any trouble"

"Mum! We don't go searching for trouble, you know that?"

"Oh, I know, son", Lily said in a very sweet tone, which made Charlus-who had spoken up-to gulp audibly, "But the last time I checked with Poppy, it was two people among you three who were at the top of the _most hours spent_ _at the infirmary _list_._ Isn't that ironic?"

Lily's statement made all three members of the Golden Trio to blush tomato red and all the others to chuckle at, either the faces of those three or Lily's comment about the _most hours spent _list. Then all of them, Lily included, started laughing again when Ray said, "Whose Poppy? She sounds _hot."_

It was after Lily had exited the Great Hall that Emi said, "You were right about her, Hermione. She is a really great person."

That brought everyone back to the reality and everyone started to eat their breakfast while comparing their timetables with each other.

"Oh bugger, they are really putting us through the paces, aren't they?" Ron moaned as he was swallowing mouthful of sausages.

"I'll say", that was Ray.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't choose to pursue Herbology; that decision is letting me have at least one hour free at the end of every week day", David said, smirking at his best mate.

"Me too", that was Linda.

"Yeah, yeah. Just because you two got cold feet at spending two more years with _dangerous _and _man-eating_ plants doesn't mean you're great or something", Ray said, offhandedly.

"Moron!" David and Linda both chorused at the same time, making everyone, but one, at the table laugh.

Hermione, a little annoyed, said after eating the food in her plate, "Well, I think all of us have the same morning classes today, right? So let's get to it. Professor Flitwick can get really annoyed sometimes if you get to his class late."

"Well, at least, I'll have the period before lunch free. I'll save you guys seats while you are stuck in some dungeon brewing stupid potions."

"Hey, me and Charlus don't take Potions too. How 'bout we all go to the Quidditch pitch and have a game or two? What do you think? Eh?"

"I'm game! Ha, better than cutting tree roots and listening to some crackpot drawl on about potions."

"Hey! Will you stop talking about my Godfather like that?"

Ray, surprised at the outburst of Aries-who hadn't spoken a word until then, unless, you were counting him greeting his Mum- looked at Charlus questioningly, who said, "Well, you did call Uncle Sev a crackpot."

"Wait a minute, here. You are saying that one of your _uncles_ is the Potions Master at Hogwarts. Are you kidding me?" Ray asked incredulously.

"Well, he is not our uncle by blood. He is Mum's best friend and we've called him uncle since, well, since the beginning", answered Charlus.

"Phew, so how come you are not taking his subject for NEWT year?"

"Eh, well you see, Uncle Sev only allows students who have achieved an O in the Potions OWL to take the NEWT in Potions", Charlus said, a bit nervously.

"But that is not fair. I mean, not everybody can score above 75% in Potions; even if they _are_, indeed, that good a brewer, sometimes something goes wrong. He can't just dismiss anybody below that scoring without even taking heed about what they can or can't do", Emi exclaimed, a bit angrily.

Hermione had noticed the accusing tone in which Emi had made her opinions vocal, and tried to defend the Potions Master by saying, "Emi, I know what you mean. But Professor Snape doesn't dismiss anybody just because their OWL score is below O. That is just his criteria of distinguishing students in such a way that it would be easy for him to work on those who need extra help in the subject, _and _who are willing to do the hard work which is needed to achieve passing grades in the subject."

Then she turned her head to glare at her two best friends and said, "I'm sure if both of them had written to Professor Snape about wishing to continue their Potions classes, he would have thought about permitting them acceptance in his class; the way he had done with Ginny here." As if on cue, Ginny nodded her head in the affirmative, glaring at her brother and boyfriend as well.

"Oh. Well in that case, I'm sorry I tried to judge him without thinking through", Emi said, a little embarrassed.

"Well, let's hurry up, now. We only have ten minutes to get to the Charms classroom; and the four of you", Hermione said while looking at the three younger Potters and Ginny, "You should get going too. Or else….."

Hermione was interrupted in her monologue by a very _girlish_ giggle. So she turned to see who that was.

David recognizing the source of the God-forsaken giggle-which he had heard many times-supressed a sudden urge to groan and turned in his seat to come face-to-face with a redheaded girl.

"Good morning, Natasha. I hope you slept well", David said, with a phony smile.

"Oh, of course! But not as well as I would have….", the redhead said, suggestively. Then she smiled saucily at David and continued, "But I didn't come here to ask you about this school's hospitality. I've heard something interesting about some Hogsmed weekend or something, where you go to this village nearby and explore it. I got so excited when I heard about it and the first thing that came to my mind was you", she said while pointing at his chest, her index finger almost touching it.

'_Her mind! She has a fucking mind? That's news to me'_ David thought, still giving Natasha the fake smile.

"So", Natasha continued, none the wiser about David's silent thoughts, "I was wondering if you would like to go with me? You know, just me and you. It'll be fun."

"Um, well, you see, Natasha, these _Hogsmeade _weekends that you are talking about, they don't start until after Halloween, if what've heard is right. So…..I'll give you my answer when the first one is announced, if that is okay with you? Whaddya say?" David told the redhead, who frowned a bit in reply; but after a few moments, recovered herself and said, "That's alright. But don't take too long, or someone else might ask me." Then she winked at him and sauntered away.

"Are you _actually_ thinking about going out with her?" Linda asked, even before the said redhead was out of earshot.

"Are you _insane_? I wouldn't go out with her even if the bitch was the last girl on the planet."

"Language, David. There are still a fair few people on this table that I would like to save from that tongue of yours", Emi scolded him lightly.

"Yeah, eh, sorry…..So let's get going, shall we? Like Hermione said, we don't want to be on the wrong side of Professor Flitwick."

Just like before in the Common Room, everybody heeded David and started to make their way to their respective classes. Nobody noticed the slight smirk that had appeared on Hermione's lips as she thought about the information she had extracted from David and Linda's conversation.

**Five and a half hours later**

Hermione had just settled down in the last class of the day, which was Herbology. She was seated on the desk right in front of the teacher's one with Emi sitting right beside her. Her two best friends were seated far behind with Ray, who, she could hear even from her desk, flirting with the French witch he had been talking to all day. The only ones who weren't in the classroom were David and Linda, who had dropped the subject after their fifth year.

The day had been full of surprises for Hermione. It had started with their first class of the day, which was Charms. The moment she entered the classroom, she was doing nothing else but stifling her giggles at Ray's jokes about Professor Flitwick's height-which were so good and witty that even she couldn't help it-and wishing for the class to end. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had wished for the break to come early the way she had done in that one and a half hour. However, that didn't mean she didn't pay attention to the class, and she was a bit glad to say the same about her friends-all the four Salem students included!-too; although, she still couldn't recall the name of the French Professor who had assisted Professor Flitwick with the class.

It had been a whole new experience, the Charms class; actually, all the three classes she had attended today were different. She had observed her four new friends in those classes and she couldn't find even one similarity in the way they performed the task they were assigned. Emi was more like her; she would master any new spell that they were assigned to perform in the Charms and DADA classes on the first attempt. Ray was also, surprisingly, just as smart and good when it came to spellwork as his friends. Hermione had thought him to be just as lousy with a wand as Ron was. But he had proven her wrong; something that doesn't happen often.

David had, of course, been the best to look at; and she wasn't saying that because of his good looks, although that was a bonus right there. But he was just so graceful with everything that he was doing, whether it may be spellwork or brewing. It would take him a little while to master the spell they were learning in the class. But he would be the first one to cast it non-verbally; showing signs of a well-organised mind.

But the most mesmerizing of the four of them had been Linda. Hermione had thought her to be a gossip girl, just like her former dorm-mates Parvati and Lavender. But everything Linda had done in the previous three classes was surreal. The most peculiar of them was the way she would hold her wand in her hand; it was as if she was holding, no, caressing a beautiful flower in her hand. The second thing had been her spells themselves. Hermione had noticed that each and every spells Linda had casted had a blue hue to them. She hadn't asked Linda anything about it yet, as Linda was the only one among the four who hadn't opened up to Hermione yet.

Then there were the classes themselves. All three classes that Hermione had attended so far were taught by two teachers. Charms, by Professor Flitwick and the French teacher she couldn't remember the name of; DADA, by Professor Lupin and Professor Hayes of Salem; and Potions, by Professor Snape and Professor Falk of Durmstrang. All three of the classes had been as different from the regular Hogwarts regime as they could get.

In Charms, the two teachers had decided to divide the class in two halves. In one half, Flitwick would give the students the necessary information and help for the charm being taught; and in the other half, the French teacher, '_Beatrice Collet was her name!_', would help the students-who had cast the charm at least once-in casting the same charm non-verbally. When Professor Flitwick had told them about this scheme at the start of the class, Hermione had doubted if that would help anyone any better. After all, she and Charlus had spent infinite hours in trying to teach Ron how to cast non-verbally; and all Ron had managed to do was cast a weak _Lumos_. So it was a shock to both Hermione and Charlus when not only Ron, but almost everybody in the classroom had managed to do what the French Professor was trying to teach them before the end of the hour. That was the moment when Hermione started to believe Dumbledore's words about this tournament being organized to improve Europe's educational system.

A nudge from her left brought Hermione back to reality as she gave a start and turned to Emi questioningly. In reply, Emi smiled reassuringly and nodded to the front. Hermione turned in time to see Professor Sprout step in at the front of the class, a man in his forties following her. After the both of them brought the class to order, they introduced themselves to the class and explained how they were going to teach. Both of them had decided to assign the Mondays for theoretical part and the Wednesdays for the practical part; explained why they were sitting in a classroom instead of a greenhouse.

But as Professors Sprout and Evrard-of Beauxbatons-started to tell them about the plants they were going to study in the greenhouses this Wednesday, it seemed impossible for Hermione to concentrate as her mind seemed either too tired or too pre-occupied, or both. Finally, after ten minutes, Hermione quit trying and cast a silent and discreet charm-which she had crafted herself-on her and Emi's parchments, which would make the parchments copy whatever the professors, who the charm was keyed to, were saying.

Sensing the sudden flow of magic and seeing her parchment sprouting out words on her own, Emi turned and looked inquiringly at Hermione. In reply, Hermione pulled out a new piece of parchment and then picking up her quill, started writing.

'_Emi, I'm sorry. But I wanted to ask you something.' _Emi read. She looked at Hermione from the corner of her eye-so that the professors won't get suspicious-then shrugged and wrote on the same parchment Hermione had written in.

'_What is it?'_

'_Do you mind if I ask you something personal about David and Linda?'_

Emi thought for a while after reading Hermione's second line. Then shrugged in a 'don't care' manner-even though she was smirking from the inside-and started writing.

'_Unless it's something they have told me not to tell anyone.'_

Hermione stared at Emi's answer to her question, then after deciding to be honest with Emi, started writing on a new piece of parchment.

'_I know it's weird; but I think I like David. I know I've met him roughly 24 hours ago and I don't even know him yet. But there is something about him that I've never felt before about anyone, not even my parents. Sorry, I'm babbling; which is even weirder as I'm not even talking. But I wanted to know if there is anything between David and Linda. I mean, I don't have any problem with that. I just want to know so that I will stay out of there way.'_

Hermione's long reply confirmed half of Emi's theory about one of her oldest friends and one of her newest friends. 'Now all I need to know is whether David thinks the same way about Hermione or not' she thought, as she leaned in to write her reply. But a thought came to Emi's mind as she was going to write that there was nothing between David and Linda; and it was an important one. So Emi decided to pursue that thought first.

'_Is this attraction of yours for David a physical one or emotional one?'_

After reading this, Hermione thought for a while about how to phrase her answer in such a way that Emi would understand. Finally, after thinking hard for five minutes-in which she saw Professor Evrard draw a detailed drawing of Devil's Snare–she started writing.

'_Well, I'm not sure yet. I mean, I'm not saying that I am not attracted towards his Greek Godlike looks. But there is something more; some criteria that are drawing me to him but I can't put my finger on them. It's not any kind of magic, I'm sure of that. It's just, you wouldn't believe it but I'm actually missing him right now; even though he was with us less than half an hour ago. I thought you would understand what I am feeling. Mostly, I talk about such things with my Mum or Mrs Potter. Please, help me out here Emi'_

Emi couldn't decide on whether to believe what Hermione had _said _just now or not; because if she decided to believe her, then she would have to accept the fact that Hermione was totally smitten by David, and that to not in just the physical way. Hermione's last line touched her though. Emi couldn't believe that Hermione-whom she didn't even know by this time yesterday-was prepared to trust her, Emi, as much as she did her own mother. The short while Emi had spent with the brown haired witch was enough to tell her that Hermione was not one of those people who could lie about such things like trust and friendship.

And so, Emi decided to help Hermione as much as she could in this situation with David. But she vowed to find out about David's feelings for Hermione, so that she wouldn't feel like she was betraying his friendship by helping Hermione.

'_I can't say that I know how you are feeling as this is really unique and something I've never heard or read of before. But I'll tell you some things. Hope that'll be enough?'_

After making sure that Hermione read this, she quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly. When Hermione nodded in reply, Emi pulled out a new piece of parchment and started writing.

'_Okay, so here are a few things you need to know about David. He really hates those people who like him for his body. I know you told me that your attraction towards him is not just physical; but I wanted you to know. If you want a testament to how David treats people who like him for his body, just remember how he treated Natasha. Trust me, you don't want to be treated like that by David, or anyone for that matter.'_

Emi stopped here, and let Hermione read what she had written. After seeing that Hermione had read it all, she tried to pull the parchment back; but Hermione held on to it. When Emi furrowed her eyebrows at this gesture, Hermione blinked her eyes once, as if telling Emi to have some patience. Shrugging, she started paying attention to the class as Hermione started writing. After about a minute, Hermione slid the parchment back at Emi, who immediately started reading.

'_Why doesn't he want people to like his physique? I mean, that's why he goes through that entire exercise regime for, doesn't he? So that people would notice his body. I am not saying that he shouldn't expect people to like him for who he is; but you have to admit that people ought to get attracted to his body, and you would expect him to get used to that kind of attention. I mean, Ray doesn't have such issues, does he? He is comfortable with people who like his body. Then why David?'_

Emi realized that she was walking on a thin rope here. If she didn't word her answer right, either Hermione would think that there was something seriously wrong with David or she would find out about his secret. Hermione was smart enough to know about metamorphmagi, after all. So, this time, Emi took her sweet time to think matters through, then after a few minutes, started writing.

'_You can't compare Ray with David, Hermione. They are completely different people. David is reserved and a cool thinker while Ray is an exhibitionist. David just doesn't like people who treat him special, that's all; just like Charlus, you know.'_

With bated breath, Emi saw Hermione reading what she had just written. After a few moments of what looked like silent interpretation, Hermione nodded and started writing. Emi actually sighed in relief after seeing that Hermione had took it the way she wanted her to. After a mere few seconds, Hermione slid a new piece of parchment towards Emi.

'_I understand how David must feel. I've seen how Charlus reacts to fan-girls, so I understand. Okay, so what were the other things you wanted to tell me about?'_

Not believing her luck, Emi immediately started writing a reply, on the same parchment that Hermione had wrote her latest message.

'_Nothing important. Just take it slow with David. Don't try to force things on him, no matter how important they are. And remember, if you turn into one of those fan-girl types, he will sever all connections with you. Trust me, he has done it before.'_

Emi couldn't believe how fast Hermione jotted out a reply after reading her note. But when she saw what Hermione had written, she couldn't help but give Hermione a disbelieving look.

Her reply was, _'He has DATED other girls before?'_

After taking in Emi's disbelieving expression, Hermione cursed herself for asking such a stupid question. 'Of course, he has dated before. He is a hot-blooded teenage boy after all', she thought, while she jotted out another question on the same parchment.

'_Has he dated Linda before?'_

Emi scolded herself for not clearing that one up before going so deep into David's character and giving Hermione tips on dating, as if she and David had already started dating. Maybe because, deep down Emi had a feeling that it was going to happen, sooner or later, Hermione and David dating that is. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she started writing.

'_I never told you. Right. Well, no. David and Linda never dated each other. So don't worry about any possible love triangle or anything. Just be yourself, okay? Now, I think we should cut this out. I caught Professor Sprout looking at the both of us, suspiciously.'_

Emi saw Hermione smile a little and nodding in reply to her request about stopping the note business. It felt like she was in primary school all over again. She better not let Ray hear about this, or he'll never let the both of them hear the end of it.

Far away from the both of them, in a derelict looking mansion, a man was sitting in a high-backed chair. He was a peculiar looking man, or _infant_ would be a better word. He was curled up in the chair in a way only a child would. But what made him look like a man were his eyes; his hate filled, determined ruby red eyes. He was staring out into space, possibly lost in thought.

Another man was sprawled out on the floor right in front of the infant looking man, possibly unconscious. This man had grey hair, which were all messed up. He also had a moustache, which, if it had been well-groomed, would have been in a narrow toothbrush style. His skin was withered and unnaturally pale, as if it had not seen daylight for a long while and his skull was almost protruding from his forehead.

Suddenly, there was movement in the room as a twelve foot long vicious looking snake slithered inside the room and settled itself atop the high-backed chair the infant was sitting in. It started hissing in the infant's ear as if telling him something of importance. The infant, too, was nodding in response as if he understood what the snake had just hissed into his ear.

Just as suddenly as it had come, the snake slithered out of the room. The infant, however, kept nodding while still looking out into space with unfocussed red eyes. Then he spoke, in this very unnaturally cold and cruel voice which was not above a whisper, but was still crystal clear.

"You are right, Nagini. It has started and we have to get him on this side. We cannot lose him. He is too important. He is our last chance. The very last…"


	11. Wands, Challengers and Prophets

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its Universe belong to J. K. Rowling and her associates. Doing this only for fun.**

** Chapter X- Wands, Challengers and Prophets**

**13****th**** September, 1997**

It was the first Saturday of the new school regime, and Hermione couldn't have been more glad for the rest it brought. She couldn't believe the amount of effort that was needed to just _keep_ _up _with the studies. There was no homework or-as her new friends call it-assignments given yet from any of the classes she was attending; but the concentration and power needed for some of the spells as well as potions they were assigned in classes was enough to make all seven of them literally collapse on whatever seats they could find, at the end of the day.

Currently, Hermione was sitting beside Emi on the couch in front of the fireplace. Emi was reading a novel-a _muggle _novel, of course, as the magical world did not give much thought into arts-that she wanted to finish by the time her friends came back from their morning activities. Hermione still didn't know anything about the _place _that David and the others were using as their gym. But she had heeded Emi's warning of not pushing things when dealing with David, no matter how hard it was for her to not quench her thirst of knowledge.

However, that didn't mean that Hermione was unable to find out anything about the Salem Quartet. She had uncovered many things about the four of them without even asking them many questions; although that didn't apply to Emi, as she had practically interrogated the Japanese girl about her childhood and family. It was no surprise to Hermione, although, that the more she got to know them, all four of them, the more she liked them.

Starting with Emi, Hermione found out that Emi's childhood had been very much identical to her own. Like Hermione, Emi didn't have many people to call friends. She has very loving and caring parents but Hermione knew the feeling you get when you don't have someone outside of your parents to spend time with. However, unlike Hermione, Emi had uncles and aunts and cousins to spend time with. So she wasn't forced to bury herself in books all the time and forget about the real world; and more importantly, Emi didn't need someone to get back the confidence she would've lost because of a friendless childhood. Hermione was glad that her Japanese friend didn't have to go through what she, herself, had. Hermione knew for sure that if it hadn't been for Mrs Potter, she would still have been the _bossy know-it-all_ with confidence issues she was before she met her best friend's mother.

What fascinated Hermione aside from her and Emi's almost identical childhoods was how very similar the both of them were, personality-wise. Hermione had noted on more than one occasion, how she and Emi would roll their eyes or stifle a laugh or glare or what not at the exact same time. It was so obvious that even Ron had noticed it and had remarked how she and Emi were _getting creepy like Fred and George_. That didn't mean, however, that they didn't have their moments of disagreement. Like the time when Emi had found out about the House-elves at Hogwarts and how Hermione had to physically restrain Emi from barging into the kitchens and forcefully start shoving clothes in each of their hands. But when Hermione had told Emi a bit about the House-elves' constant need of a master, a stumped Emi had stopped with her ranting and had went straight up to bed. The next morning, Emi had thanked Hermione for the information about the House-elves but had said that she wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole situation, something Hermione had to agree upon.

"Knut for your thoughts?"

That question brought Hermione out of her musings and she turned in Emi's general direction expecting the Japanese girl sporting an evil grin, of course. But, to her surprise, she found Emi still immersed in her book. Confused, Hermione turned her head to her left and found Ginny sitting beside her with a funny look on her face. Feeling embarrassed at not recognizing her long time friend's voice, Hermione said, "Sorry, Ginny. Didn't see you there."

In reply, the redhead flashed Hermione a knowing smile and then proceeded to lean towards her to whisper in her ear.

"You know, you should try a little harder at hiding your emotions. Even Charlus was talking about you staring at David last night."

Hermione's eyes widened after hearing that. She turned to face Ginny and try to repair the damage, but was shocked to see her still smiling that knowing-and now, somewhat reassuring-smile. Before Hermione could utter a single word after getting out of her shell-shocked state, Ginny spoke again, still speaking in a whisper.

"Don't worry, Hermione. Your secret is safe with me; and with Charlus, as well. Just try to act on what I just told you to."

Hermione-after taking her time to assemble her thoughts-nodded her head in affirmative, indicating the fact that she appreciated not only Ginny keeping the secret to herself but her advice, as well. After that, Ginny said hello to Emi-who nodded her head in acknowledgement without taking her eyes off the book-then left the both of them to go down to the Great Hall.

Hermione, for her part, just sat there beside Emi as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. But inside her mind, Hermione's thoughts had taken a different lane. From thinking about the classes and knowing new things about her new friends to deciding upon whether to use Occlumency to hide her emotions or not, in a flash; because she knew that was the only way she could mask her emotions. She had started to learn the obscure branch of magic when Charlus started taking classes with Professor Snape, on the Headmaster's suggestion. However, unlike Charlus, Hermione was learning it all by herself, with some help and suggestions from both Mrs Potter and Professor Snape. She found it a bitter-sweet experience, learning Occlumency that is. For the sweet part, her ability to remember and recall things had improved; but on the downside, she would get massive headaches at the end of every one-hour sessions that she had decided to devote to Occlumency. These sessions were arranged in such a way that there would be at least a 48-hours difference between two adjacent ones. Both Mrs Potter and Professor Snape had made that suggestion, because they both knew her impatience at learning something new. The other suggestions from the both of them had been a couple of books that would help her learn fast. The both of them had estimated until after Christmas for Hermione to be able to have enough grasp of the subject to start utilizing it. Hermione, herself, knew that it would take her six months, at the very least, to accomplish anything in Occlumency.

But these were desperate times. If Charlus was able to point out her excessive staring of David, then she would be lucky if David himself hadn't taken note of it. And she didn't want him to know yet. For God's sake, it had not even been a week since she had made his acquaintance, and that was enough for David to establish the fact that she was into it for his physical beauty. But using Occlumency could possibly be dangerous for her mind, especially, at this level of her training. Her mind is supposed to be most fragile during the first eight weeks of the training. That was the reason why she couldn't decide on whether to start applying it to her mind or not.

Finally, reaching an impasse, Hermione, half-heartedly, decided to go and take advice from the one person who was her constant confidante, and vice versa. Half-heartedly, because Hermione really didn't want to tell one of her _Professors_ about her not-so-little secret crush and ask for advice about how to keep it _secret_.

**14****th**** September, 1997**

David was sitting at-what had now become-their side of the Gryffindor Table. He was just finished with his lunch. He was sandwiched between the Potter Twins, for a change. Both of the girls would come to have a meal at the Gryffindor Table once in a while. But that was only once or twice in a couple of days. Most of the time they would eat at their own House Tables and then would come and sit with them-always together, even though they were in different Houses-to talk with their brother and everyone else.

Charlus's younger brother, on the other hand, had eaten with them only that first morning. He would come and sit with them to have a conversation with everyone alright. But that was about it. He would never eat with them. Go figure. David had noticed that Aries would mostly talk with Charlus and Hermione and-if they are there-with Selene and the little dragon; although, mostly with the latter. Aries would have conversations with David, as well. But these conversations couldn't be classified as talking; as most of the time it would involve Aries throwing ten questions per minute at David and David answering them as best as he could. Sometimes, Aries would get on David's nerves. But David knew that the fourth year Slytherin didn't mean anything mean by asking him those questions. David knew that Aries was just curious. But nonetheless, he would have appreciated it if Aries had chosen another time aside from the mealtimes to interrogate David the way he would.

David was missing his familiar's weight on his shoulders. But it was alright. He was just sitting on the shoulders of the person sitting on his right, which was incidentally the youngest Potter. David was still curious about Fede's more than general interest in the little dragon but he was going to take it slow about finding more things out about the redhead; especially after hearing so many things about the little dragon's short fuse. That made him smile.

What David didn't realize was the fact that his head was still turned in the general direction of his familiar, who was still sitting on Roselyn's shoulders. But the said girl did and didn't waste any time in pointing it out to David.

"What are you grinning at, David?" She said, glaring a little.

David, realizing what he had been doing, blinked a couple of times and then shook his head as if to clear his head. Then without thinking, he started saying, "Nothing, little dragon. I was just….." He would've continued to tell Roselyn that he wasn't staring at her but at Fede; but of course, he was interrupted.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

David couldn't believe that the unusually loud shout had come out of Roselyn's little mouth. He was so shocked by her shout that he didn't even realize, still, what he had done to elicit such a reaction from Roselyn. However, in his confused haze, his ears were able to catch what Ray had _conspiratorially-_and gleefully-whispered in someone's ear.

Ray's exact words were, "Principe is so going to get it today."

That made David think about what he had done or said wrong that had pissed the little redhead off. A few seconds later, the impact of his own words hit him, _hard._ He couldn't believe he had made such a faux pas. Dreading what he was about to see, he slowly turned his head in Roselyn's direction to see a rosy-cheeked redhead, standing behind the seat she was occupying just moments ago, sporting a glower that would have made the bravest men to run for cover.

Time seemed to have slowed down as David stared into Roselyn's eyes and he just realized then that the redhead had some green flakes in her hazel eyes. Then he saw her lips moving as though she was saying something but he couldn't hear the words. He didn't get any time to delve on the subject of why he was unable to hear Roselyn's words as the next second a beam of golden light came out of Roselyn's hand-or was it a wand?-and raced towards David. Somehow, David got the feeling that even if he was given the time to move out of the way of the spell, he wouldn't have.

As the spell hit David, he had expected to get thrown out of his seat and start sprouting some weird, funny things out of his face, what else a first year could do even if she had learnt magic before she started attending a proper school? But the feeling he got wasn't something he thought he would experience besides the usual way. The feeling he got was the same one he always got whenever Fede sat on his shoulder. David couldn't make himself believe that an eleven year old girl-or anyone, for that matter-could make him feel like that, outside of Fede.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing, or hearing for that matter. It was as if Fede was singing a song in his unique, ethereal call and it was getting reverberated all around the Great Hall. But it was the spectacle that was taking place right in front of her very eyes that stunned her even further. She could see, crystal clear, a continuous stream of golden spell coming out of Roselyn's wand and hitting David right in the chest. But Hermione could tell that whatever it was, it wasn't something that was hurting David or anything. It was so spectacular, though, that you would know it was one of those things that you will see only once in a lifetime, even in the world of Magic.

Then something happened-which was too quick for Hermione's eyes-and the next moment, both the song and the beam were gone as suddenly as they had materialized. After a few seconds of squinting, Hermione saw Fede's majestic form-in all its wide wing glory-floating in the air between David and Roselyn. Hermione could have sworn she heard a fork or spoon being dropped in a plate. It was that quiet. Finally, someone spoke up.

"Ms Potter, you are going to come up here and hand me your wand right this moment."

Hermione recognised the voice and couldn't recall the last time she had heard it being so angry. After a few minutes-during which Roselyn didn't move a toe-the person who had spoken up came down from the teachers' Table and stood between the two people Hermione was staring at.

"Roselyn", Hermione heard the person say, in that same steely voice she had heard before, "Pick up your wand and….."

But the person was interrupted by someone who, Hermione realized, was sitting on the other side of Emi, who was seated right beside her.

"Professor Potter. Can I…..can I hold the wand for a few seconds?" Hermione heard Linda asking a little tentatively.

Hermione saw Mrs Potter turning in Linda's direction and looking at her with narrowed eyes, for a few seconds. Finally, she said, with that same cold voice, "Why, may I ask, Ms Owens?"

Linda, fidgeting nervously, replied, "I….I might be able to explain what we just saw happen between Roselyn and Dave, Mam."

Hermione could see Mrs Potter tossing numerous possibilities in her mind about what Linda could possibly say which will make them see the sense in whatever that had happened. Finally, she nodded and said, "Fine, Ms Owens, come over here."

Hermione saw Linda standing up from her seat and walking around the table to stand next to Mrs Potter, who was joined by Professors Lupin, Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Grey. Then she heard Linda softly speak to Roselyn, "Roselyn, can I examine your wand for a while?"

After a few more silent seconds, Roselyn nodded her head in affirmative, still in a daze about what she had just done. Immediately after Roselyn's nod, Linda picked up Roselyn's wand and held it just like Hermione had seen her hold her own. For a few moments, nothing happened except for Linda caressing the wand. Then to her surprise, Hermione saw a happy smile making its way on Linda's lips. She couldn't understand why the blonde would be smiling in such a situation. Linda, herself, answered Hermione's non-verbal question.

"Dave, I think you would be interested to know that Roselyn's wand contains the tail feathers of a male _Halcyon_." Linda emphasised the last word, while directly looking at Fede, who had perched himself on David's shoulders by then.

After not only witnessing but also being a part of Roselyn's spectacular spell-casting, David was further stunned into silence after hearing Lin's bold declaration. He couldn't believe it. But, after a few seconds, he started to put the pieces of the puzzle together and suddenly, everything started to make sense. Him feeling a connection towards Roselyn, Fede's unnatural curiosity towards the redhead and whatever the hell that had _just_ taken place.

"So what you are basically saying, Ms Owens, is that Roselyn's wand core comes from Mr Principe's familiar and that is why the wand reacted the way it did?", David heard Professor Lupin say in a stunned voice.

"Yes, Professor, that is exactly what I'm saying. You might have heard some people say that wand-lore is something that no magical entity-creatures or wizards, regardless-can understand completely. But it just gets a lot more difficult to understand when the core of a wand comes from someone's familiar. The reason behind it is that then not only the wand has a personality of its own, but the core itself can react however it wants in certain situations like the one we just saw. Wands get more unpredictable that way."

The words from Lin's speech took some time to sink in, but once they did, the worried mother inside Professor Potter took charge.

"You don't mean that the wand can be dangerous for Roselyn, right? If that is the case, then we have to get it changed as soon as possible. And, anyway, how can you say all this so confidently, Ms Owens? Wait a minute; you are not just making this up to get Roselyn and David out of trouble, are you?"

"Give her some room to answer, Lily", a smirking Professor Lupin said. But the statement did its job of getting Mrs Potter out of her funk. David saw her relaxing visibly, but even so she did not move her gaze from Linda, who got a little nervous under it.

Finally, David saw Lin lifting her shoulders in determination and started talking, "First of all, your concern about Roselyn's safety. No, it will not cause her any bodily harm and will only fail her if she tries to use it against Dave, just like she did now."

David actually sighed in relief after hearing that and even grinned at a disappointed looking Roselyn. But Lin wasn't finished yet.

"For your concern about my truthfulness; well, there you just have to trust me, as I can't bring my Mom or Grandpa here so that they could tell you that I come from a long, long and even longer line of wand-crafters. Both my Mom and Grandpa have been in the profession since, well, since before my birth.

"But if you still want me to prove it to you, I could examine any one of your wand and tell what wood and core the wand is crafted with", Lin said firmly.

"That won't be necessary, Ms Owens. Professor Potter, I personally vouch for Ms Owen's words' authenticity. I think that will be enough", that came from Headmistress Grey. Apparently, that was enough as all the Professors, except for Dumbledore, nodded their heads.

After a few moments of silence-in which all the information that Lin had given had been sunk in-she spoke up, again, "So, I don't think that whatever that has happened here just now is Roselyn's fault because I heard the incantation and the spell would have simply caused an itching on Dave's chest, if it had been a normal circumstance. On the contrary, I think it was more of Dave's fault than Rosie's. Right, Dave?" The last question was spoken in such a sweet tone that for a moment David thought if _he_ was the eleven-year-old between him and Roselyn. Then, Roselyn surprised him by saying, "No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have raised my wand at David."

While she was saying this, Roselyn's head was bowed in shame and David felt like his own heart was breaking; but then the redhead said something which instantly assured David that the little dragon was alright.

"And don't call me Rosie."

Stifling her laugh, Lily said, still in that stony voice she had used earlier, even though her anger was all but forgotten, "That maybe. But Roselyn still broke the school rules by spell-casting in the Great Hall…..I think a week's detention with Professor Hagrid would be enough. What do you think, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore had been staring at the youngest Potter child's wand since the moment he came over from the teachers' Table. It was incredible what the Salem student had told them about the wand's core, but that was not the reason why he had been staring at the wand. No, it was the fact that the wand's wood was eerily familiar to the old wizard. He had seen only one other wand that had been made with that specific type of wood and it was securely strapped on his own wrist at that very moment. Dumbledore couldn't believe that the eleven-year-old witch in front of him was powerful enough to be the master of a wand made of an Elder Tree's wood. He decided, then, to keep a closer eye on the girl from then on.

Finally, he simply nodded at whatever the girl's mother had asked him. Then he pulled himself together and said, "I think that the situation is under control and no one is in need to visit the infirmary, Professor Potter. So I suggest we return to our seats, as we have something to inform the student body about." With that he turned and walked back to the teachers' Table, mind still on Roselyn's wand.

After all the teachers went back to their seats and everybody around him had returned to their seats as well, David turned towards Roselyn and said in a quiet voice, "I'm really sorry about what I called you, Roselyn. I promise I will never call you that again. I swear." He was still feeling bad about whatever that had happened only because of his unconscious comment. That's what he hated the most; somebody else being blamed for someone else's mistake, and it was his mistake that had provoked Roselyn to do what she had. And now, because of that, she had to spend her time in detention. The more he thought about it, the more depressed he got.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Roselyn replied, still sounding a little dazed; no doubt still in shock about what she had just done.

"It's alright, David. And I'm sorry too, for attacking you like that."

David was about to wave off her apologies, when, just like before, Roselyn made it clear that no matter how shocked she was, she was doing alright.

"The next time you call me that, I'll ask Hermione to hex you like she did with Ron and Charlie all those years ago."

David couldn't help it. He had to laugh at that. It wasn't like he underestimated Hermione or anything. It was just that, Roselyn's mood swings seemed oddly familiar to him.

'_I guess it's not just the Halcyons who choose crazy people as their masters. Even their tail feathers do the same thing.'_

David's laugh caused everyone else on the table to forget about what had just happened a few minutes ago and join him; even Roselyn couldn't help but think that no matter what he called her, David's laugh was something that would make anyone laugh with him, no matter what.

Their happy moments were interrupted by the familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore, who had risen up from his throne-like chair. David saw him smiling at everyone in the Hall, but he could clearly see that even doing such a simple thing like addressing a crowd was hard for the oh-so-mighty Headmaster to do without a hint of phoniness. Being a somewhat master of the mind magiks, David could see, clearly, that the Headmaster was supressing some emotions inside him even at this very moment. The only reason David was able to see it was because he knew what he was looking for and where he had to look to find whatever it was. It was the reason why David could never be able to trust the Headmaster; that and whatever the _Supreme Mugwump_ had done to him all those years ago. But he left that train of thought as the subject of his thoughts started speaking.

"….as we all know, the Tournament of Concordia will have four participants; one from each of the prestigious schools that are present here. It was decided that all the four challengers will be elected by the Head of the respective school and its accompanying staff.

"The reason of me telling you all this now is that all the three foreign schools have decided on who will be representing their respective institution; and so have the Hogwarts staff and myself. BUT…."

At the end of his little speech, the Headmaster's voice got drowned out by the noise the entire student body was making, a reaction to the Headmaster's announcement. It took almost all the occupants of the teachers' Table and a loud gong-like sound from Dumbledore's wand to get the students in order again.

After making sure that every student was as quiet as they could be, Dumbledore started again.

"As I was saying, all the four challengers have been selected, _but_ their names will be announced tonight after dinner as the fifth member of the Judges' Panel has to be present at the announcements of the challengers….."

David ignored the rest of the old man's speech as he wasn't interested in hearing the spooky bastard going on and on about the _damn_ tournament and its _damn_ challengers. All of a sudden, David was angry as hell. Not even Fede's reassuring weight on his shoulder was able to calm him down. Finally, he decided to get the hell out of the place before he lashed out at someone. There was only one person who could calm him down at the moment.

Hermione was listening to the Headmaster talk about how he and all his three counterparts were unable to tell them about the four challengers without the presence of the fifth mystery judge of the tournament, when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. By the time she had turned her head, David was already out of the doors of the Great Hall. She was about to stand up to follow him when she felt a hand over her shoulder stop her in her movements. Turning her head in the direction of the owner of the hand, she found out that it was Emi who had stopped her from following David. But there was more; since Hermione had first laid eyes on Emi, this was the first time she had seen the Japanese girl's face looking this forlorn. She didn't know the reason behind this sudden mood shift. It had been mere ten minutes ago that Emi had been laughing alongside Hermione. What could go so very wrong in just ten minutes? It was Emi's words that brought Hermione out of her mind.

"Let him be, for now, Hermione. It's times like this when you should let David be alone", Hermione heard Emi say.

"But I need to talk to him about something important. What's wrong with him, anyway? He was fine moments ago", Hermione said urgently.

"It's not my place to tell you what's wrong with him, Hermione. And you can talk to him later about whatever it is that you need to talk to him. He'll come around, don't worry", Emi said, in that same dejected voice.

Hermione-noting that there was more than what Emi was letting her in-said, a little more patiently, "You sure he is alright, Emi? He just left so suddenly. Where has he gone, anyway?"

"He is absolutely fine, Hermione. He's probably out talking with his Mom. Just let him be", Emi repeated.

Finally, Hermione let the matter go when she looked around and found out that both Ray and Linda were looking just as sad as Emi. She concluded that whatever the matter was, it was a sour spot among her four new friends.

It was four hours after lunch and Linda had still not seen Dave anywhere. He was being his usual enigmatic self by hiding in a place where she-or anyone, for that matter-couldn't find him. It still astonished Linda how Dave could know a place as huge as Hogwarts like the back of his hand when he had never even been there before. But he wouldn't be Dave if it wasn't for that.

But currently, Linda wasn't searching for Dave; she had quit doing it an hour ago. No, right now, she was standing outside of the Library preparing herself for the conversation she was going to have. She had been planning this confrontation she was going to talk to Hermione with since she first laid eyes on the object of her fascination, but she was still nervous as anything. The cause of her nervousness, the most intimidating teacher Linda had ever faced in her academic career would be part of the aforementioned confrontation. That was the reason why she had decided to convince Hermione to accompany her. But that was no easy task, either. She knew she had to answer all the questions Hermione will throw at her before she would agree to do anything; but it was a fair deal.

With that thought in her mind, Linda entered the library and started to search for Hermione. She was in luck. Hermione was just about to leave the library-with a stack of Library books-when Linda found her talking with Madam Pince, the Librarian. She had decided to directly cut to the chase and not beat around the bush when dealing with Hermione. So that's what she did.

"Hey, Hermione…..Are you done here?" Linda asked, gesturing towards the bookshelves of the Library.

After a few moments, Hermione nodded, albeit being taken off guard. At her nod, Linda continued.

"Would you like to walk with me to the Common Room? I need to ask you something?"

After another-calculating-nod from Hermione, both girls exited the Library and started their way up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Few silent moments of walking later, Hermione asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about, Linda?" Knowing she had to be careful from here on, Linda said, a bit cautiously.

"Well, you see, Hermione. It's just, I need you to do me a favour."

Just as Linda had expected, Hermione narrowed her eyes the moment the words were out of Linda's lips. Then after a few seconds, Hermione asked one of her many questions.

"What is it, Linda?"

Answer right on her lips, Linda started speaking.

"Eh, you know, just like Roselyn, I feel something strong whenever I am near Selene. So I just wanted to examine her wand, as well."

Hermione's face scrunched up and transformed into a confused frown. Then she said, "You could do that any time of the day. Why do you need me for that?"

Just like before, Linda spoke in that same well-prepared manner.

"I know that, Hermione. But I want to do this privately; and I want Professor Potter to be there in case what I suspect is true."

"And what is it that you suspect?" Hermione asked right away.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't tell you that until I've confirmed those suspicions. I can give you this, though. Whatever I think is the deal with Selene, it's not going to harm her in any way, shape or form."

This time, Hermione took her sweet time to contemplate what Linda had told her. Finally, she replied; with yet another question.

"Why do you need Mrs, I mean, Professor Potter for?"

"I need her so that it would be easy for Selene to accept whatever it is that I suspect about her; and I want you to be there with me as well."

"Why…why would you need me there as well?" Hermione asked with some hint of confusion and trepidation.

"Well, you know I'm in Professor Potter's class and all, right?" At Hermione's nod, Linda continued nervously, "Well, it's just that, she, for want of a decent word, intimidates me, you know? She reminds me of my maternal grandmother, personality-wise, I mean; and sometimes, my grandma used to make me crawl under the blanket with my eyes closed. You see what I mean?"

For Linda's annoyance, Hermione smirked mischievously and said, "You are scared of her? Mrs Potter? You ought to be taking the micky out of me, Linda?"

"I am serious, okay?" Linda said, with no so little amount of annoyance in her tone.

"Okay, sorry. So, let me get all the facts straight. You want to examine Selene's wand in private and want me as well as Mrs Potter to be there while you do it; Mrs Potter is needed for Selene and I'm for yourself. Did I get all the facts?" Hermione asked, with a frown of concentration on her face.

Linda nodded and said, "Yeah, that's about everything…So…you'll help me?" She finished nervously.

Hermione looked like she was thinking real hard about how to respond. Finally, after a few silent moments of climbing stairs, Hermione replied.

"Sure, I will. But I have a condition."

'_Of course you have one. Everybody's got one of those whenever you ask them to do you a favour.' _Linda thought, somewhat snappishly.

"What is it?" She asked out loud, a little cautiously so as to not give away her inner thoughts.

Hermione replied right away, in a firm voice, "You'll have to tell me why David walked out of the Great Hall like that at lunch."

Linda was actually thinking about whether she really needed Hermione's help when she heard her condition. It wasn't as if she was worried about Dave getting pissed at her for telling someone about, well, about _it._ But what she was actually worried about was how she, herself, would react if-by any chance-Hermione started to judge Dave for what he had done almost four years ago, like all the people had done then.

Linda knew that Hermione wasn't that narrow-minded to do that; but almost all the people who had found out about that one chapter of Dave's life had chastised and criticized him. She knew she should trust Hermione, but she couldn't risk Hermione thinking that Dave wasn't what he all seemed. That was the thing. Linda _knew _Dave. The real one and she knew him better than Emi and Ray. So she could tell that Dave felt something more than friendship toward the brown-haired witch in front of her; no matter the amount of jealousy she felt about it, she had to accept that. That was why she just couldn't risk Hermione thinking about Dave the way those other people had.

Hermione was waiting with bated breath for Linda's response to her condition. She could tell that the blonde bombshell was thinking hard by the way Linda's brows were furrowed and the way her unfocussed eyes were looking at nothing in particular. Hermione didn't know why, but whatever was the reason for David's abrupt departure from the Great Hall a few hours ago wasn't just a casual thing; and she wanted to know what it was.

Just when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione concluded that Linda was not going to tell her about David's problem; but Linda caught her off guard, again, when she stepped in front of her, halting Hermione in her ways. Then Linda further surprised Hermione by gently placing her hands on her shoulders. Linda hadn't shown Hermione as much emotions in the last six days as she was at this moment. That made Hermione decide that whatever Linda had to tell her, she would hear it all out and think about it with an open-mind before making a comment. Because she had seen someone else's eyes look the way Linda's were, at that moment. She had seen someone else looking just as vulnerable as Linda was, at that moment. Those were the reasons why Hermione decided to treat Linda with the same understanding she had treated Mrs Potter with, all those years ago.

"Look, Hermione. What you are asking me to tell you is, well, it's something that we, all the four of us, don't, ever, tell anybody. People find out, but they never find out from us. You see, I like you, okay? But that's not enough, okay? I know that Emi trusts you implicitly. But I bet that even she won't tell you anything about this matter. It's just, if there is anyone who can tell you about all this, it's Dave; and trust me, he won't tell you easily.

"I don't mean anything by this, but I'm really sorry. I can't, I just can't, okay?"

When she was done talking, Linda got a pleasant surprise when, suddenly, Hermione hugged her gently. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why Hermione had her in her arms all of a sudden. Then she heard Hermione apologizing in her ear, making Linda wonder what Hermione had done in the first place. It was when Linda extracted herself from Hermione's arms did she realize that it were her, Linda's, tears that had triggered such a reaction from Hermione. Quickly, she wiped her face with a handkerchief and then just stood there for a while. After the silence between the both of them got awkward, Linda decided to break it.

"So, I guess I'll just have to find another way to get a private audience with Professor Potter and Selene. See…."

"Wait, what?" Hermione interrupted Linda mid-sentence.

Confused, Linda said, "Well, you said you would only do it if I told you about David and since I did not, I figured you wouldn't want to….."

"Of course I would! I was just, you know, trying to coax it out of you since Emi wouldn't tell me and I wanted to know."

Linda couldn't help but smile at the sheepish manner in which Hermione told her the reason behind her making a condition. She also felt bad about thinking ill of Hermione because of the whole _condition_ matter. But Linda wanted to be sure; so she replied, "Okay. So, does that mean you will help me?"

"I just said I would, Linda. But I want to ask you something first."

Feeling curious, Linda asked, "What is it?" Hermione, in a very serious tone, replied with a question of her own.

"How much important is it, exactly? Your meeting with Mrs Potter and Selene, that is."

After thinking over how to word her reply, Linda said, "Important enough to change Selene's life."

At the same time, in a pub called the Three Broomsticks, a conversation was taking place between James and Lily Potter.

"You know, Lily, I would really like to meet this Principe kid. He sounds really brave if he called our Rosie, what was that?...oh yes, _Little Dragon!"_ James said to his wife, his wife filled with mirth.

"It's not funny, James! What if her original spell had actually hit David? You know very well that the Salem Headmistress would have been well within her rights to punish Roselyn however she wanted for attacking one of her students. It was a fortunate stroke of luck that situation moulded the way it did and Roselyn got away with mere detentions; although, even that is saying something as not even you or Sirius had landed yourselves in detentions in you first ever week at Hogwarts."

"Oh, I'm so proud of her. It's official now. Roselyn is my favourite between our daughters."

"James!"

"You know I'm joking Lily…..I would never repeat what I had done to Harry. You can trust me there", James said with a sombre voice.

Lily nodded after hearing her husband's words. Then she said, "Still, we should discipline Roselyn a little more. I mean I know she wouldn't harm anyone on purpose but I think we would better be off safe rather than sorry."

"Oh come on Lily, you know Roselyn. She had been a little hot-headed since she was five. Nobody can change that; nobody should, either. I will bet all the money I own on the fact that she would've said sorry to this Principe kid right after the incident. There, you got the discipline. Let her be herself, Lily. She'll grow over it. I have faith in her."

Lily smiled at the way James explained the facts to her. He not only persuaded her to not do what she had in mind for Roselyn, but he also did it with humour. That's why she loved her husband so much. He knew, exactly, what to say to her in a certain situation so that she could see the error of her ways.

Lily saw James opening his mouth as if to say something, but right at that moment, an Otter Patronas materialized on the table between the both of them. Lily thought it was lucky that it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts, otherwise, the Patronus would've caused quite a debacle in the pub, which was almost empty currently. However, it did cause quite a few rose eyebrows from the present customers; especially, an old couple that was sitting just across from their table. Something made Lily curious about the both of them when she looked in the sapphire blue eyes of the witch, who was seated facing her. For some reason, Lily thought the eyes looked familiar. She couldn't see the appearance of the wizard-who was seating with the witch-as his back was turned in her direction; but she could tell that he was as old as the witch accompanying him was, by the colour of his grey hair. Lily could also sense that the old wizard's whole attention was directed towards the Patronus that had appeared in front of her, even though he wasn't looking in the direction of the majestic piece of magic.

Lily didn't get more time to gauge the reactions of the two strangers though, as the Patronus-which she knew was Hermione's-started talking.

"I need to talk to you. It's really urgent. I'm in your office."

Lily knew, right away, that whatever it was, it was important. Because she knew that Hermione wouldn't have used this means of communication for anything casual.

"You're going?" Lily heard her husband say disappointedly. So she turned back and looked at him. After seeing that he was as disappointed as he sounded, she tried to make it up to him.

"Yes and you are coming with me. Whatever it is that Hermione wants to talk to me about, it won't take much longer, anyway. So there's no point in cancelling our date. Okay?"

It seemed to have worked as James grinned at her and then- after placing the bill and tip on the table-stood up and came around to help her out of her seat. Then he kissed her lightly on the lips and said, "I know that only teachers and prefects and head students are allowed to give away punishments but if it is a fluke, I'm going to give Hermione a year-worth of detentions, okay?" Then the both of them got out of the pub, laughing and talking all the while during their walk back to Hogwarts; both of them not noticing two pairs of identical cold blue eyes following their every move until they were out of sight of the two strangers.

**An Hour Later**

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You are saying that our Selene is a seer; and not just an average one, but, if trained well, she could be one of the best! Did I get everything?" James said with a hint of amazement in his tone.

"Well, if what I saw-or rather felt-in her wand is true, then yes. You see, that wand that has chosen her, it not only has a powerful core inside of it, but the core itself is wrapped in a leaf of an ancient palm tree; and in case you didn't know this, palm trees were the symbols of Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun, music, healing and _prophesies._ I know it might sound corny, what with all the Greek Mythology and all, but my Grandpa had told me time and time again that only true seers have a wand with a palm tree's leaf wrapped around its core. So you can trust my word there."

Ever since, Linda had started talking after examining Selene's wand, it seemed like her words were stunning all the occupants of the room into silence, no matter what she said. This time was no different as both the Potter twins, Hermione and James and Lily Potter stared at her as if she had preached the end of the world just then.

Feeling embarrassed under their scrutiny, Linda nervously cleared her throat and then said, "I think…..I think you should start giving her some overview on the subject of prophesies-I don't know what you call it here-so that she would be more prepared if she has a vision of something. You know what I mean? It will help her understand her talents and all."

Getting out of her trance, Lily thought about what Ms Owens had just said; and she totally agreed with her that Selene might need the understanding of the subject if she had a vision of the future or something. Lily had enough personal experience as a muggleborn to refer to, to know how it felt to be the _odd one_.

But there were quite a few problems with Selene's education in the subject of Divination. First of all, she knew Hogwarts was hopeless in regards to Divination. Then there were the books; she had gone through some of the books that were _authorised _by the Ministry for the subject and knew that they were just as bad as Hogwarts' Divination Professor. And last but not the least; she didn't know anyone who could help teach Selene even the basics of the subject. It was that bad a subject. So she asked the question which came to her lips.

"Ms Owens, if you had attended Hogwarts, you would've known that it, literally, does not have anything to offer in the department of Divination; neither do I or anyone I know. So I can't find a solution for this situation of Selene's education in Divination. If I may ask, although; do you, by any chance, know anyone who can help Selene? We are ready to pay, if that is a problem." Lily said the last sentence out of panic when she saw the girl she was addressing, shook her head morosely. She badly wanted her daughter to learn whatever that was needed to master the gift she was born with. It would save Selene so much trouble to sort out her own thoughts if she ever had an uncalled vision and couldn't tell the difference between reality and future. Lily had, at least, read the newspaper articles about wizards and witches going crazy because of visions and voices in their heads. She didn't want such a vicious future for her child, who was, at that moment, seated on her father's lap as he held her tightly in an attempt to comfort her. She could see that Roselyn had also stood up from her chair to hold hands with her sister.

That scene made Lily's resolve of providing her daughter with a peaceful future get all the more strong. And right now, the blonde girl standing in front of her was the only chance Lily had to make her daughter's life as easy as possible.

Linda was shaking her head as if to make the many thoughts-that were running rampant in her mind-go away. But she couldn't. This was the second time in one single day, that she was forced in a situation where she had to debate on whether or not to disclose one of Dave's secrets to someone she barely knew. But this one was different. A girl's future possibly depended on Linda's one decision. But it might put Dave in the bad light, again, if she didn't word her answer properly. But Linda knew she had to. She couldn't just say no to a mother who was looking out for her child. She just couldn't.

Finally, deciding that she would rather take Dave's cold shoulder for a few days instead of the guilt of a lifetime, Linda started speaking.

"Okay, there is something I know that might help Selene." Seeing that Professor Potter was about to interrupt her, Linda held one of her hands in the air, effectively cutting her out. After getting an understanding nod from the professor, Linda continued.

"But before I tell you about it, I want you to know that whatever I'm about to tell you now, can't go out of this room. Are we clear?" Garnering a nod from everybody this time, Linda continued, after taking a deep breath, "You see, Dave used to have these…..these _nightmares_ when he was young; he never told me what they were about, but they were terrifying enough to make him shout in his sleep. These nightmares were worst whenever he was away from his mother until Fede joined him. But he had told me, once, that he would apply Occlumency on his mind to numb some of the effect of the nightmare, before Fede joined him.

"Now, I know that Occlumency seems too simple an alternative for something as intricate as prophesies, but it might help Selene in organizing her mind enough to not get confused with reality and visions, right?" Linda didn't wait for a reply. "So, then there is the question of who will teach her the mind art. Well, as for that, there can be many options. She could even learn it all by herself if she wishes to. And trust me, Occlumency will help her, until you find a solid and permanent solution to this situation."

Here, Linda took another deep breath and looked around to see the reactions of everyone in the room. The twins were looking dazed, naturally. James Potter was looking at his wife, who seemed to be too deep in thought to acknowledge him at the moment. Lastly, Hermione was looking as though she had seen a ghost. That made Linda stifle a groan of exasperation because she knew what might have disturbed the brown haired genius. She made a note to prepare some answers beforehand for whenever Hermione decided to interrogate her about David's nightmares. Then, after noting that the silence in the room had gotten sort of awkward, Linda decided to break it.

"Well, that's all I have" Linda said with a shrug.

After about ten minutes of brainstorming, Lily said, "Ms Owens, can you do me one other favour? Please?"

Linda, confused as to what the professor will want from her now, asked, "What is it, Professor?" Right after she asked the question, she knew she was going to be in a shitload of trouble; the reason behind this was Lily Potter's face, which had transformed into an uncomfortable grimace. Linda concluded that if the professor was anything like her Grandma-and Linda was sure that she was-then whatever it was that she wanted Linda to do, have to be damn near impossible. She wasn't disappointed.

"Can you persuade David into teaching Selene Occlumency?"

**Four Hours Later**

Hermione was seated in the Great Hall on the edge of their side of the table, which was nearest to the doors. The reason she was seated there was because she was waiting for David, who had still not returned from wherever he had gone. The only thing that was keeping her sitting on the seat and not go looking for him herself was Emi, who was seated across from her. She was, at first, annoyed at the three Salem students when they showed little to no regard about the fact that one of their best friends had been missing almost all day. She had even asked Emi-a little rudely, now that she thought about it-as to why none of them were concerned about David. In answer, Emi had just smiled mysteriously at her and said that the reason behind their lack of concern was the constant presence of either Fede or David's Mom around him. It confused her at first as to how David's mother could be around him all the time; but Emi's statement was enough to lessen her worry, a bit, as it reminded her that Fede had, indeed, been with David when he had left the Great Hall at noon. Worry lessened, but not vanished.

There was the matter with Selene that also worried Hermione. Even if they had decided on some counter-measures, they still had to find an actual solution to Selene's situation. It wasn't as if she was diagnosed with a disease or anything, but it was still worrisome to think that Selene might suffer through some uncalled visions. She was yet to tell Aries and Charlus about this new development; although, this wasn't something she was actually worried about. Because she was sure that both brothers will do everything in their power to search for ways that will help Selene in controlling and honing her prophetic abilities the moment they hear about it from either her or Mrs Potter.

Then there was the fact of Linda trying to convince David into teaching Selene Occlumency. It wasn't as if anybody else couldn't teach her the obscure branch of magic. But Hermione agreed with Mrs Potter's logic that if someone who had been there before, teaches Selene, it will be all the better. Hermione had to admit to herself, though, that her worrying over whether David will agree to teach Selene or not wasn't all for her concern towards Selene. She was hoping that he would say yes, so that the chances of him agreeing to whatever she, herself, had in mind will be immensely improved, as well.

Hermione shook herself out of her thoughts to do what she had been doing all through dinner, turn to look at the doors. In her anxiety to see David again, she had barely touched any food she had half-heartedly put in her plate. She was so out of it, that she didn't even notice when the main course vanished and when the dessert appeared. Now though, all the tables were cleared of all the food, as it was time for the main event of the night- The Announcement of the Challengers.

Hermione wasn't too interested in that either, as she knew who would be representing Hogwarts and didn't thought much about who would represent the other schools. It was then that she realized something. Eyes widened, she turned to the only person who sitting beside her-which was Ray-and said, in a panicked voice, "What if they choose David? Won't he be in trouble for not being present?"

All Hermione got as an answer from Ray-who turned from jovial to stiff in a heartbeat-was a shake of his head and an barely audible "They won't choose David, Hermione" before he turned back to talk to Ron-who was sitting on his right-already back to his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. It was just another reminder of David's problem, which nobody was ready to tell her about. Although, she did notice that it was the first time she had heard Ray actually address David by his first name rather than his last. But that wasn't enough to derail her from the depressing train of thought about David's problem and past.

'_What might have David done in the past that he is not even being considered for the Tournament?' _was the thought that reverberated in Hermione's mind all through Professor Dumbledore's speech and the introduction of the fifth mystery judge, whom, she was sure, she had seen at least once; but couldn't be sure. She was unable to catch his name in her pre-occupation. But he seemed to be giving the impression of sharpness and tactfulness by the way he held himself. Hermione couldn't care less. Although, there was a part of her mind which couldn't help but sigh in relief at hearing that there won't be a chance of David getting caught in the madness of this Tournament.

That was when she caught movement in the corner of her eyes, and she turned in the general direction of the double doors of the Great Hall. What she saw made her body fill with a strong wave of relief. It was David who walked in though the open doors and made quick work of squeezing in between Emi and Linda, who freed up some space for him to sit. He looked just like he did before he took off earlier in the afternoon. He was wearing the same beige coloured pants and grey button-up shirt he had been wearing before. The only difference was his face, which looked more relaxed and happier. One other change was in the form of Fede, who was nowhere to be seen. When Emi asked David about his familiar's whereabouts, he offhandedly said that when his mother turned up, Fede left him to go hunting.

"What do you mean _your mother turned up?"_ Hermione didn't realize it, but she had practically shouted the question. She got lucky, though, as her shout was drowned out by a thunderous applause from half of the people present in the Hall. When she looked around to see what had happened, she saw a blonde haired boy in Beauxbatons' uniform of baby blue colour, standing up from the Ravenclaw Table, already making his way towards the Teachers' Table. It was then that Hermione realized that the Announcement had begun, and concluded that the boy must be the Beauxbatons Challenger. Just like before, she didn't catch a name. Then Ray started whispering in her ear.

"Stop shouting Hermione. Did you want to turn Principe in by shouting things like that?"

In response, and panic, Hermione started shaking her head vigorously and then said, in a voice that barely qualified as a whisper, "No, no. I was just, you know, caught off guard. I didn't realize soon enough that he might be joking…"

Hermione wasn't given the chance by Ray to finish her sentence as he interrupted her.

"Hermione, he wasn't joking." Hearing that blunt comment, Hermione tried to say something in response; but Ray, again, cut her out by holding his hand and then-after making sure that she wouldn't say anything-continued.

"Okay. How about I tell you everything about how Principe might have met Eve-his Mom, I mean-if you promise to not yell like that again, huh? Fair deal?" Ray asked while quirking both of his eyebrows upwards.

After getting over her shock and figuring out that it wasn't a bad trade, Hermione nodded her head. Seeing the nod, Ray, himself nodded and said, "Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow at Herbology. For now, let's enjoy the show, shall we?" He said the last sentence a little too suavely. But Hermione was, by now, well past the dark skinned teen's excessive flirting habits. So she just nodded in affirmative even though Ray had already turned back to look at the Teachers' Table.

But Hermione turned her head to look at the three friends sitting across from her. She noted that both Emi and Linda were looking at the Teacher's Table, very much like Ray; but she got a little startled as she flicked her eyes to look at David and found him staring at her. Her body stiffened as she looked into his blue eyes. She got so lost in them that she almost didn't catch David's words, which he was mouthing.

The message was, 'We need to talk. Later.'

Hermione got extremely worried as she read David's lips when he was mouthing the words. How could she have been so naïve as to think that only Ray had heard her yell? Of course, David heard it too; and now he must be thinking something along the lines of her wanting to turn him in. She so wanted to tell him that it wasn't the case, but just then another round of applause started and another boy, this time from the Slytherin Table, stood up and made his way towards the Head Table. She didn't hear the name this time either.

When Hermione turned back to look at David, she found him still staring at her with a calculating look. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the look David was giving her. But that changed, when David surprised her, yet again. This time, however, she almost feinted, as she saw David quirking his lips into a reassuring-but beautiful-smile and then winking saucily at her. She didn't feint though; but her jaw did hit the table as the image of David's smiling and winking face was the only thing that her mind was able to process for the time being.

Around the time Hermione's mind resurfaced from its shock-shelled state, David had also turned to pay attention to the announcements. When she looked around to see for whom everybody around her was clapping so hard, she saw Charlus walking towards the Teacher's Table. She concluded that, as the hosting school's challenger, Charlus had to be the last one whose name would have been announced; which meant that, aside from Charlus, she didn't know any other challenger's name. Feeling stupid, she nudged Ray to get his attention. Sure enough, Ray turned his head towards her and asked, "What's the matter?"

Feeling sheepish, Hermione said, "Can you tell me the names of all the challengers? I was a little pre-occupied?"

Hermione saw Ray barely stifling his chuckle as he said, "I told you to enjoy the show, brainy-head. Alright, I'll tell you. The French Champion is Michael, or was that Mikael? Yup! It was Mikael. Mikael Solomon."

"Mikael Solomon. Okay. Durmstrang?" Hermione asked while nodding her head as if she was taking notes in a class.

"Alright, Durmstrang's challenger is Casper Nielson. But I think that they are going to appeal that selection. Because I heard way too many boo's than claps from the Swedish clan."

"What do you mean appeal? And how do you know that Durmstrang's in Sweden?" Hermione asked in rapid succession, further increasing Ray's mirth. Finally, he was able to stifle his laugh, with no small amount of effort. Then he started talking again.

"Okay. So the first one first, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer. "It's just that Headmistress Grey told us that we can appeal their choice of a challenger if we think that he or she isn't good enough. You didn't know that?" This time he waited for an answer. All he got was a shake of Hermione's head. Shrugging his shoulders in indifference after a few seconds, Ray continued, "As for your second question; girl, you are talking to Ray Johnson, the third, explorer extraordinaire."

"And the biggest moron you'll ever find on planet Earth."

That made both of them to turn their head and find that it was David who had spoken up. In response, Ray smirked and said, "You are just jealous, Principe. Always have been."

David, in retaliation, started coughing, but Hermione was able to hear the words, "In your dreams, moron". She subconsciously grinned at David, who greeted her back with one of his own. Then she heard him say, "Come on, you two. Hurry up. We are dismissed. It's time for bed."

Hermione started laughing as she heard David say "It's time for bed" in a singsong voice. By the time she regained her composure and stopped laughing, Ray had left with everyone else and David and Emi were the only ones who had stayed behind for her, both sporting somewhat identical grins. That's when she realized something.

"Hey. He didn't tell me who was chosen as the Salem Challenger."

Immediately, both Emi David's grins left their faces; Emi's turned into a sad and disappointed frown while David's turned into an angry scowl. Sensing that whoever that was chosen wasn't Emi and David's most favourite person in school, Hermione cautiously asked again, "So, who was it?"

It was David who answered her after a few moments. Her predictions were somewhat wrong when she thought that David didn't like the chosen challenger. By the tone of his voice, she was sure that whoever it was, David hated him with all of his heart.

"It's Samuel 'Fucking' Bellamy."


End file.
